week of 4/17/02
 
 
 

Martin’s proposal was a good one for Tribal Council
SMN
Cherokee One Feather Editor Joe Martin is staking out a position that displays an ample supply of integrity in asking the Tribal Council to open up its meetings.

His request for the council to abide by the same disclosure and openness that governments throughout the country abide by would better serve the enrolled Eastern Band members than the policy adopted at the last council meeting.

Martin, who is an enrolled member of the tribe, went to the effort to write a proposed open meetings law for the Cherokee Tribal Council. Under his proposal, the council would be allowed to go into closed session to discuss legal, personnel and other issues deemed appropriate. His proposal was fair and would protect fellow Eastern Band members from abuses of power.

The council, however, adopted a measure that allows it to meet to go into closed session to discuss any issue it deems to be in “the best interest of the Tribe.” That kind of language could prompt many to question just whose interest is served by holding closed sessions.

Talk about broad and open for interpretation. That wording is an open invitation for potential abuse. The point of an open meetings law is to remove language that is open for interpretation. The North Carolina Open Meetings Law, for example, includes language that deems illegal any meeting or action whose purpose is to “evade the spirit” of the law. In other words, elected leaders can’t use whatever method they are clever enough to devise to simply exclude the public from their decision-making process.

We know that the Eastern Band is, in effect, a sovereign entity operating outside the laws of the state. In many cases, it is considered equal to our own federal government. Because of that, it can adopt whatever open meetings law it pleases.

But it is the enrolled members who will suffer the consequences of any heavy-handed tactics used to avoid public scrutiny. The tribe operates under a constitutional system similar to our federal government, and that system only works when people have a full voice and are privy to debates on all important matters. Take away that check on elected members, and the system effectively collapses.

Martin did not accuse the council of scurrying away to closed session every time it wants to discuss something important. In reality, the importance of adopting a strong open meetings law is not necessarily to rein in this Tribal Council. The point is that all councils from this point on would operate under the same law, sending a message that the tribe will always deal openly and honestly with its members.

Martin asked council members to adopt a progressive law that would enshrine a commitment to open government. The Tribal Council would do well to listen closely to his request.