JACKSON -- Many towns have a Bob Bryant, and those that don't would do well to get one.
For the past several years, Bryant has been the open-government advocate for Crenshaw, a Delta city of about 900.
"He's a relentless sort of guy," said John Howell, publisher of The Panolian, the local newspaper that covers Crenshaw politics. "He's a real thorn in their side."
Bryant, a retired Shelby County, Tenn., sheriff's deputy, is even more frank.
"I worry the crap out of them," he said.
Worried about the effect dilapidated properties were having on land values in Crenshaw, Bryant started regularly attending meetings of the Crenshaw Board of Aldermen late in 2005. After attending a few meetings, he said feared a lot of business was being conducted outside of the council's open session "because they didn't want to fool with the public."
No one would answer simple questions, like how much the city owed its creditors or how a $300,000 housing grant was being spent, he said.
So Bryant stared filing requests for the city's financial documents.
"I just went in there looking," he said. "I wanted to look at the financial records and minutes of prior board meetings."
City officials ignored the requests until Bryant hired an attorney who sent a letter warning them the city was in violation of state law. Through constant hounding and the threat of legal action, he said he has seen some improvement but "not near enough."
The state's Open Meetings and Public Records laws are too weak, he said.
"Once they stonewall you, you've got to get into your pocket and hire lawyers. Why should we have to do that?" he said. "You are out here doing the government's job for them without any resources."
It shouldn't be that way, agreed Jackson lawyer Leonard Van Slyke, an expert in open-government law.
"There should be an attitude from public officials that we want to make as much information as possible public and exercise exemptions only when necessary," he said.
The state Public Records law begins with the statement that allowing access to records is Mississippi state policy and that providing access is the duty of public officials. Van Slyke said the law does not require any public official to withhold a document because all of the state exemptions can be waived at the government's discretion.
Van Slyke said the lack of any system of appeal short of bringing a civil lawsuit is a real shortcoming in state law. It is a tremendous burden on citizens to bring a state or local agency to circuit court just to get access to a record.
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