Open government can wait until after the summer break, the D.C. Council decided Tuesday.
The council narrowly voted to send back to committee a bill that would guarantee most legislative meetings are open to the public. The vote was 7-6 with Ward 7 Council Member Vincent Gray casting the tiebreaker.
“This bill, right, left, backward and forward is going to hamstring this government and is going to cost a fortune,” said Council Member Carol Schwartz, who urged her colleagues to return it to the government operations committee for more discussion.
The legislation ensures the public’s right to be informed of, and present at, meetings of most public bodies, when there is a quorum present, “at which members consider, conduct or advise on public business … ” The current law allows any public body to meet behind closed doors except to vote on official business.
Open for government
The law would apply to:
» D.C. Council
» Board of Education and DC Public Charter School Board
» D.C. Water and Sewer Authority and Anacostia Waterfront Corp., among other quasi-government agencies
