Transparency in Wisconsin Government: Journalist and Public Blocked from Open Meeting (Mine)
http://wcmcoop.com/2013/09/05/journalist-and-public-blocked-from-open-meeting/
The Wisconsin State Senate Committee for Workforce Development, Forestry, Mining and Revenue passed SB 278 on a party line vote this morning. The bill allows Gogebic Taconite to close off 3,500 acres of Managed Forest Land for public access immediately upon enactment of the law without paying the withdrawal fees they would otherwise have to pay under current law.
During the executive session Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) called the bill and the process by which it is being fast tracked through the legislature with no input from citizens from Northern Wisconsin or other sporting and recreation groups that use the land “contemptuous.” Addressing his fellow senators, Jauch said, “It matters what the people think. It isn’t our government, it’s theirs. Citizens shouldn’t feel like they’re getting stiffed by their own legislature.”
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But the committee chair and the Capitol Police showed contempt for the public during the proceedings this morning. Access to land wasn’t the only thing blocked: Members of the public were temporarily prevented from entering the meeting room by Capitol Police officers, and a journalist was barred from filming inside the session by Senate staff.
Despite a state statute that says that during open sessions of legislative meetings “the body shall make a reasonable effort to accommodate any person desiring to record, film or photograph the meeting,” videographer Nicole Desautels was ordered to turn off her video camera at the beginning of the session.
Personal report of credentialled press being blocked from the meeting:
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