Timing, Unfortunately, Is Everything - Editorial
This week, we planned to publish a story on the latest developments regarding the Bourne Housing Authority’s body-worn camera policy for employees. We had a reporter assigned to cover the meeting, set for Thursday morning.
That being said, we were surprised when, a mere five minutes after eight o’clock, we got a text from that reporter asking for a call. Isn’t he in a meeting?
The short answer? No, he was not in a meeting. In fact, according to what he told us, the meeting was well into its agenda by the time he arrived a few minutes before the posted start time of 8 AM.
What? Did we get the timing wrong? BHA meetings are always held on the third Thursday at 8 AM. We checked the Town of Bourne’s online meeting calendar. Oh no, there was an amended agenda posted. The panic set in. Did we fail to notice a change to the posted meeting time?
But no, both agendas posted for the meeting of the Bourne Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners note a start time of 8 AM on Thursday, June 20. Whew. We checked the calendar, just to be safe. Well, what went wrong then?
To be honest: we do not know. We’re still befuddled. At best, it was a simple miscommunication, an honest mistake or maybe even a clerical oversight. At worst, though? Well, it could be seen as unfair, shady or even deliberate. We don’t think that was the case, but asking questions is our job—and all we do know is that our reporter said that by the time he walked in just before 8 AM, the board was wrapping up discussion of the third item on its agenda.
Anyone who follows, attends or participates in public meetings might understand our frustration, but in case you don’t, let us put it this way: imagine you arrive at the movie theater all ready to go for the 7 PM showing, only to walk into the theater and find they’re already 30 minutes into the movie. Upsetting, right?
Public meeting notices are required for a reason, and Massachusetts Open Meeting Law is extremely cut and dry on the topic. Therefore, it is only logical for people to assume that posted public meetings will begin at the time and location included on the public posting. Somehow, though, that logic failed yesterday, and the meeting had progressed past some of the more important agenda items we were concerned with by the time our reporter had even arrived.
In a phone call with our reporter, BHA Executive Director Kara Galasso Garcia didn’t offer much of an explanation. Essentially, she said she didn’t know that the board was not permitted to start early.
But what about the four commissioners currently serving on the board? Not one of them knew about Open Meeting Law—not even Frederic Bartholomew who, according to yesterday’s posted agenda, is resigning after two whole decades on the board? We find that hard to believe.
With Mr. Bartholomew’s resignation tendered, the five-person board will have two open seats moving forward. Transparency with the public and local press is of the utmost importance when conducting business, and the housing authority is no exception to that. For our sake, we hope that whoever fills those seats knows a thing or two about compliance with Open Meeting Law.