Wednesday, April 30, 2003

Dear Mr. Hofrichter, I received your correspondence dated April 16, 2003, regarding your desire for your committee to meet with local government officials. I will admit that your proposal is troubling to me.

You state directly that you want to evade our state's "sunshine laws" that allow public access to information. Your letter states that the committee's schedule meetings are "an opportunity for blunt, open and honest discussions without the spectre of public attendance or press involvement."

To be perfectly blunt, open and honest, I was elected by the general public, and the press acts as the eyes and ears of the public realm; therefore, it is of the utmost importance to me that government officials be public with their comments.

Omitting both the public and the press raises some interesting questions. Such a series of systematic secretive meetings certainly gives the appearance that there is something that should be hidden from the public. I have nothing to hide, and I would only be willing to have such meetings in public.

I am concerned about your motivation for having such secret meetings at all. I recall that you were the one that consistently called for an end to public comment in our newspapers via "Letters to the Editor." However, it was you that sent a blistering letter to all the newspapers declaring that you were giving our wonderful city a failing grade relating to business. Your grading system was most subjective and contained no statistical support.

Never once in your term as 2002 Chamber Chairman did you make an effort to meet with me to discuss any of your supposed concerns. Your letter appeared to be more ax-grinding than a valid attempt at promoting business issues with local government. What was your motivation for writing the letter?

Under your term as Chamber Chairman, I, a Chamber member, was told that I could no longer participate on the Legislative Action Committee. You allowed other government officials to participate on the committee. What is your motivation for allowing some to participate and not others? I thought that it was interesting that former Mayor Bob Lenox was appointed to the chairmanship of the committee at the same time that I was no longer allowed to participate. Such action does not convey a willingness to build relations with local governments.

Another concern I have is the secret meetings that the Chamber held under your direction concerning your desire to create a new judicial district for Fayette County. Not only was the creation of a new district unnecessary, but it would have also meant needless tax increases. As a Chamber member, I have serious concerns about your not allowing your own membership access to the minutes of those meetings regarding a new judicial district. Again, I must ask what is the motivation for the Chamber's secrecy?

Obviously, the Chamber of Commerce is a special interest group, and there are many times when your special interests do not necessarily benefit the public at large. However, to deny information to your own membership is puzzling indeed. I would hope that the Chamber Board is not conducting any activity that is not in the best interest of all its members.

I do know that a majority of our City Council is opposed to your meetings as planned. More to the point, I would say that the inverse of your plan is true. Building relationships between local government and business is best made in a public setting if building such relationships is truly the goal.

I am a firm believer in, "Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required" (Luke 12:48). As government officials, we cannot condone such systematic secretive meetings for the sole purpose of keeping the public in the dark and eliminating the participation of the news media.

The citizens must see who is profiting from government, who is using government influence to their advantage and who is vying for control and for what reasons. Then, come Election Day, the citizens will decide for themselves exactly who they think loves them, conveys impartiality and fosters a genuine sense of community without personal monetary gain.

If you opt to make some drastic changes and allow the meetings to be open to all, I will gladly participate if a scheduling conflict does not exist.

Steve Brown

Mayor