Open government works

At a time when state officials and legislators who believe in open government are attempting to make public officials more responsive to Ohio's open records law, there is a nascent effort by at least one state representative to move the state backwards.
House Bill 9 was drafted as a response to an audit of the state conducted last year by the Associated Press that showed public officials woefully misinformed about what the state's Public Records Act required. In many cases, elected officials or public employees acted as if the public records being sought belonged to them, not to the public.
Now, Rep. Bill Seitz of Cincinnati, who has a record as a lawmaker and a practicing lawyer that demonstrates an antipathy toward making government records public, has attempted to use debate over H.B. 9 to eliminate journalistic access to the names of Ohioans who are licensed to carry concealed weapons.
Seitz is attempting to use a bill inspired by the proven failure of public officials to recognize public access to close off access. If Seitz were to have any success, there is little doubt he would attempt to close access to other documents now defined as public.
Special interests
There is never a shortage of special interests eager to keep the prying eyes of the public out of government affairs. It should come as no surprise, we suppose, that Seitz would attempt to pervert an open records bill into a closed records bill.
H.B. 9 is a good bill and a necessary bill. It was sponsored by Rep. Scott Oelslager of Canton and has the strong backing of Attorney General Jim Petro and others.
The bill mandates that all elected public officials undergo biennial training on the Sunshine Laws from qualified instructors as determined by the Attorney General's Office, and requires all public offices to have a written policy on the availability of public records. The bill would give the public mechanisms for holding public officials who defy the state's public records law to account.
It is in the public interest and should become law without being turned on its head by Seitz or anyone else who thinks government works best when the people can't see behind its closed doors.