More on the Newton North controversy

Newton blogger Chuck Tanowitz shares some thoughts on the battle between city officials and the Newton Tab over access to the Newton North construction site.

Meet the Tab's new editor

It's Newton Mayor David Cohen, who tells the Newton Tab's Dan Atkinson that photos are "not essential" for reporting on progress at the Newton North High School construction site.

Earlier: "Meet the Tab's new photographer."

Meet the Tab's new photographer

The Newton Tab reports that Alderman Ken Parker took a photo of the Newton North High School construction site with his iPhone and sent it along to the Tab. Parker says he didn't do it surreptitiously, either. Amazing. Earlier item here.

Press barred from public tour of public school

You wouldn't think that when public officials tour a public school, anyone would be brazen enough to bar a news organization by claiming it's a "private event on private property." But that's exactly what happened on Wednesday, according to the Newton Tab, which had assigned a reporter and a photographer to cover a tour of the $200 million Newton North High School construction site.

The Tab's Dan Atkinson reports that Mayor David Cohen, a number of aldermen and members of the school's design-review committee took the tour, but that Dimeo Construction wouldn't allow the press to tag along — even though the event had been posted as being open to the public.

"It's an essentially private event on private property," Cohen spokesman Jeremy Solomon is quoted as saying. "It doesn't entitle the media to attend." Solomon added: "Elected officials deserve the courtesy to ask any questions without being concerned about how they're portrayed in the Tab."

The Newton North project — the most expensive public school in the history of the state, if not the known universe — has long been controversial. The Boston Globe's Newton Wiki reports that the current price tag of nearly $200 million has almost doubled since 2003, when Cohen first proposed it. Newton voters approved it in a 2007 referendum.

Based on the facts as reported by the Tab, it's unclear as to whether officials violated the Massachusetts open-meeting law, which, among other things, forbids private governmental meetings when there is a quorum present. Atkinson writes that "at least" nine aldermen took the tour — well short of a quorum, given that Newton has 24 aldermen. But if a quorum of design-review committee members was present, what took place might be considered an illegal meeting.

More important, what happened to the Tab on Wednesday was not just an affront to the press, but to the proposition that the public's business should be conducted in public. As Tab publisher Greg Reibman said, "[I]t's not the Tab that is being punished. It's the taxpayers who are spending nearly $200 million on this project and they deserve to know how their dollars are being spent."

More: Great catch by Michael Pahre, who notes that there is an "on-site inspection" exception to the open-meeting law. So, in all likelihood, no violation of the law took place. "That said," Pahre writes, "the Newton officials were boneheaded in announcing this as a tour that is open to the public if they don't want the press to attend."

Still more: The Tab says that its reporter was allowed to take a tour today. But still no photos (or photographer), please.

Chuck Turner, open government advocate

I explain how at the First Amendment Blog.

Turning the First Amendment on its head

Robert Ambrogi has posted a 36-page section of the report ordered up by the Boston City Council as part of its crusade to get out of having to comply with the state's open-meeting law.

It's hard to make out and I haven't had a chance to go through it yet. But Ambrogi's comments are on the mark, especially with respect to the councilors' argument that the law impinges upon their own First Amendment rights:

How does that saying go about the devil reading the Bible to his own ends? That was all I could think of as I read a report arguing that the First Amendment gives Boston city councilors the right to conduct the people's business behind closed doors....

The ... premise is that this "prohibition" on private speech between public officials violates their free-speech rights. That is the most extreme contortion of the First Amendment I've ever heard or read.

Ambrogi concludes with a hope that councilors will send the report "straight to the circular file." But that's only going to happen if the press and the public pressures them to do so.

The original Boston Herald story made it pretty clear that some influential members, including president Maureen Feeney and former president Michael Flaherty, think weakening the public's right to know is a neat idea.

Closed-door government

The Boston City Council, having been found in violation of the state's open-meeting law earlier this year, has come up with an all-too-typical response. According to Boston Herald reporter Ed Mason, council members today will take up an 80-page report that it commissioned urging the state to exempt them from the law.

Council president Maureen Feeney tells Mason that the law presents "challenges" and is "confusing." Before I go any further, you should know that the law does nothing more than require governmental bodies such as the city council to conduct the public's business in public, and to provide adequate notice of when its meetings will take place.

Councilor Michael Flaherty is quoted as saying that the law creates a "chilling effect," claiming, "You can't even have a conversation with colleagues in the hallway or in a session." That's an interesting observation. The law says that a quorum — that is, a majority — of members cannot discuss official business outside the context of a legal, publicly announced meeting.

If Flaherty had said, You can't even have a conversation in the hallway with six or more colleagues about city business, that would be accurate. It would also underscore the absurdity of his complaint.

The law doesn't even require public meetings when there is a good reason for them to be held behind closed doors. Various exceptions are allowed, most typically to discuss contract negotiations and lawsuits.

Any journalist, community activist or public watchdog who's spent any time dealing with municipal government will tell you that the open-meeting law ought to be strengthened, especially with regard to punishing violators.

The law is a burden only to public officials who think the public is a burden.