Facebook vs. face to face: Preserving the integrity of open meetings in the Net era

Earlier today, I saw an article in the Seattle Times about elected officials utilizing Facebook to keep in touch with constituents and disseminate information, and I got to wondering about how use of technology might conflict with long established rules providing for open and accessible meetings.

Back in 1971, the Legislature enacted a law called the Open Public Meetings Act or OPMA. It applies to just about every state, county or city agency, department, subagency, or any other entity that makes decisions or adopts rules relating to public matters. (The Legislature conveniently exempted itself from the OPMA, but that is a topic for another day.)

Basically, the OPMA requires that all "deliberations, discussions, reviews, evaluations," etc., be handled at a public meeting. In other words, we don't want to have decisions made by a Star Chamber, but rather in full public view.

So what does that have to do with Facebook or other similar web applications? Well, technology has enabled our society to do any number of things remotely. We can access email and the World Wide Web from our phones, we can use webcams built into our laptops to meet up virtually wherever we are, and we can share information instantly with others in a chat room or instant message session.

In other words, there is more than one way to meet. And therein lies the pitfall. Suppose a city council has seven members, and that it is considering three candidates for City Manager. Under the OPMA, the Council cannot make a decision except at a public meeting.

So what is the problem? Suppose the first councilmember mentions on his Facebook page that it would be nice to get people's opinions about the candidates. Suppose further that three other councilmembers happen to be friends with the first, along with two hundreds other members of the public.

Would it violate the OPMA for four councilmembers to participate in the same exchange of opinion, along with two hundred other members of the public?

What if none of the other councilmembers are even aware that their colleagues are participating in a discussion online?

[By the way, this post shouldn't be construed as legal advice. I leave it to you to form your own conclusions about all of this.]

You can see where I am going with this. Similar issues arose with the advent of e-mail and e-mail listservs.

Does that mean it is a bad thing for elected officials to use a tool such as Facebook to keep in touch with constituents? No, quite the opposite. To the extent that such services enable our elected officials to keep in touch with the community they serve, such services are a very good thing.

Elected leaders just need to exercise caution when interacting online, and remember: when in doubt, consult a city attorney, deputy county prosecutor, or assistant attorney general for guidance.