A Barrington couple's successful crusade against their town government's guarded approach to records inspires discussion at the attorney general's Open Government Summit.

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, August 6, 2005

BY STEVE PEOPLES
Journal Staff Writer

BRISTOL -- Jeff and Janice Black sat in the third row amid a sea of government officials, lawyers, newspaper editors and law-enforcement authorities, listening attentively to Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch.

At the opposite end of the large room, Barrington Tax Assessor Rebecca Lefebvre and two members of the Board of Assessment Review were staring straight ahead.

Lynch was talking about the Blacks, characterizing the Barrington couple as "difficult" and "nagging." And without naming them, he was also talking about Lefebvre and the board, the targets of a recent open-government investigation.

"We all have sometimes difficult requests," he said. "I will say that that burden . . . cannot and should not be used as an excuse to deny people the right to open government and public records."

More than 500 people -- most of them public officials -- gathered at the Ralph R. Papitto School of Law at Roger Williams University yesterday for the seventh annual Open Government Summit sponsored by the attorney general's office.

As in previous years, the morning conference offered participants an up-close look at the state's Open Meetings Law and Access to Public Records Act, which ensure public access to government proceedings.

At least 509 people attended the conference, compared with about 400 last year. Four overflow rooms were equipped with video-conferencing equipment to accommodate the large crowd.

"Cases like that remind people to be ever-vigilant," Lynch said before the conference, when asked about the Blacks. "I think people need to hold government officials accountable. Anybody who does that needs to be commended."

In court records filed last week, Barrington officials admitted that they had acted illegally by refusing to release some documents and overcharging retrieval fees. The town agreed to pay a $1,500 fine, thought to be the largest such penalty since the open-government laws were enacted in 1979.

As the morning summit progressed, Christy Hetherington and Michael Field, the attorneys who make up Lynch's open-government unit, launched into detailed explanations of the open-records and open-meetings laws.

Hetherington said the definition of a meeting is constantly changing. Current laws prohibit elected officials from using e-mail or phone calls to discuss issues outside of regularly scheduled meetings, she said, because a that allows an unlawful "rolling quorum."

Field helped to explain the instances when a public body may go into an executive session -- closed to the public -- and when it can't. He detailed rules for notifying the public about meetings, citing the state Supreme Court's recent decision that the East Greenwich Town Council broke the law by straying from its posted agenda.

The Blacks scribbled notes and took it all in.

"When we can have a meeting like this, with 500 people for the sole purpose of educating our public officials, that restores my faith in government," Jeff Black said during a break.

"It's a good day," said a smiling Janice Black. "Look at how many people are here today. . . . They need to know what their duties are, how to get educated. There's no excuse."

The couple, both accountants with law degrees, said they're not entirely bothered by being called "difficult."

"That's what it takes. It takes persistence," Janice Black said. "And the two of us, that's one of our best qualities."

Maverick politician Robert Healey watched the day's speeches and PowerPoint presentations. As the conference began, the bearded founder of the state's Cool Moose political party said he supported open government, but didn't have much faith in the attorney general's resolve to enforce it.

He called the conference a "dog-and-pony show."

At around noon, three hours after the summit began, Healey looked bored.

The lieutenant governor hopeful knows the open-government laws well, having attended the conference three times before, and having helped initiate multiple open-government complaints.

But over the course of yesterday's presentation, his attitude changed.

"Often these things are just lip service. And usually it's the same crowd," Healey said. "But the people here seem different. A lot of the faces I've never seen before. . . . From the crowd and the subject matter, it may not be so much of a dog-and-pony show."

To contact Steve Peoples phone (401) 277-7459 or e-mail SPeoples [at] projo.com