This article was retrieved from www.shorejournal.com.
 5/14/01
 
 
 Government structures that foster political participation are those that open the doors of democracy for a majority of working men and women. One of the most effective ways local government can discourage citizen participation is to hold public meetings during the day when a majority of working men and women cannot attend.
 
 Daytime meetings are a sophisticated method of secrecy that allows government to conduct business with less citizen review, thus, hindering political participation by closing its doors. It is so subtle that it is generally overlooked and accepted as normal.
 
 When public meetings are held during the day it promotes two things. First, it limits who can attend the public hearings. If working men and women in Wicomico County, Maryland want to attend a public hearing, they must choose to either take personal leave to participate or forfeit the opportunity to attend.
 
 It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the most reasonable choice for most people. Second, only those County citizens who can take off from work during the day can be appointed to boards or commissions or even run for public office. This decreases the pool of potential political appointees and elected office holders. When it becomes reasonable for citizens not to participate, democracy fails.
 
 Several years ago the State of Maryland passed open meetings laws to ensure local governments would conduct public meetings in public. Maryland's Sunshine Laws were intended to discourage back room deals where major campaign supporters were paid with political favors or lucrative government projects. Sunshine Laws gave the public the right to know what their governments were doing.
 
 In Wicomico County, daytime public meetings of the Wicomico County Council, Salisbury City work sessions and meetings of the Department of Planning, Zoning and Community Development meet the letter of the law because these meetings are open to the public. These meetings, however, fall short of the spirit of the law because they are held when a majority of working men and women cannot attend.
 
 Open government that encourages public participation must be increased in Wicomico County. As an elected official on the Wicomico County Democratic State Central Committee, I feel all governmental bodies and appointed boards and commissions should be mandated by law to conduct public business at night or on weekends. Since 1990, I have been fighting for this change and still believe it to be an issue that requires addressing. If passed, this law would ensure increased public access opportunities to all citizens.
 
 Jack Powell