OUR VIEW

The Cherokee County School Board of Trustees included a 25 percent pay increase for themselves in the 2005-06 budget and did not want the taxpayers of this county to know about it.

This line item was kept under wraps until The Ledger reported it a couple of months ago.

When questioned, trustees were vague about who pushed for the increase. One board member said she didn’t even know it was included in the budget, which, by the way, was approved unanimously in June.

County resident Gene Martin, acting out of concern for the way the raise was kept hush-hush, pressed school officials for more information. He ultimately took the word of school officials that the issue was discussed during a budget workshop in May. He had to take it on faith because no minutes were taken during that workshop, which is a violation of the S.C. Freedom of Information Act (SCFOIA).

Board chairman Sandra Greene said she did not know the law requires minutes to be taken during workshops. That’s no excuse. But what about the other eight trustees? And the superintendent?

The SCFOIA is not a complicated law, nor is it lengthy.

We suggest that all public officials, elected and appointed, acquaint themselves with it and then adhere to it. To aid them in that task, a 15-page booklet entitled the “Public Official’s Guide to Compliance with South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act” is available from the S.C. Press Association.

In years past, this newspaper has provided numerous copies of this booklet to the school district and other public bodies in Cherokee County.

Martin made his requests for information under the Act and we applaud him for his actions. The law is there to “make it possible for citizens to learn the activities of their public officials. ...”

It was adopted by the South Carolina General Assembly to shine a light into the dark corners of government — dark corners where pay raises are hidden from public view.

We need more citizens like Gene Martin who will use the law to keep the light shining because we will always have public officials

who prefer to conduct public business under the cloak of secrecy. No minutes from budget workshop