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The state agency charged with driving South Carolina’s “knowledge-based” economy apparently isn’t all that interested in keeping Palmetto State citizens up to date on its progress, or in obeying the state’s open meetings laws.
The board of the South Carolina Research Authority meets just five times a year, but little of Thursday’s session in Columbia was open to the public. During the two-plus hours that the Research Authority’s board gathered, approximately 80 percent of the time was spent in executive session, meaning it was closed to the public and media.
SCRA officials also failed to provide sufficient detail regarding the closed-door session, a violation of the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, according to a Columbia attorney who specializes in media law and First Amendment issues.
“It has to be stated with specificity what is going to be done in executive session,” said Jay Bender, whose clients include the South Carolina Press Association. The Nerve’s parent organization, the S.C. Policy Council, is an associate member of the Press Association.
“To say ‘legal matters’ or ‘contractual matters’ is insufficient,” Bender said.
However, that is almost exactly what SCRA Chief Executive Officer Bill Mahoney did. His exact words were: “We’re going to get into some pending contractual settlements. So the request would be that we go into executive session now.” That was it.
Prior to a second executive session, no information was given, again violating open meeting laws.
Bender added that after executive session, the board is required to spell out the substance of what took place in executive session, which the Research Authority board also failed to do.
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South Carolina on Sunshine Review
