Blacksburg shows Virginia how it's done

The town council teaches that openness, not secrecy, is the basis for sound government.

On Tuesday night, the Blacksburg Town Council chose Mary Holliman to fill a vacancy on the council. In doing so, it gave other Virginia governments a valuable lesson in deontic logic, the study of permission and obligation. Just because the law permits government secrecy does not mean government is obligated to use it.

State law allows governments to discuss appointments behind closed doors. There is an exception to open meetings requirements so that officials can have candid talks about candidates before making a final selection.

Nothing, however, requires that such conversations take place in the shadows. Many citizens have a keen interest in the thinking that goes into public decisions. When the decision is choosing a councilmember, someone who will represent the public without actually having been elected, that interest justifiably intensifies.

The Blacksburg council therefore declined to hold its discussions in secret. On Tuesday, councilors openly talked about Holliman and chose her to serve out the remainder of a term that ends in 2008.

The council's stand for open government warrants public praise, especially if this marks the beginning of a new preference for sunshine amidst several new council members and the first new mayor in more than two decades.

Citizens First, a local political action committee, also deserves applause. The group has been pushing for more openness in Blacksburg for years, backing candidates who share their vision in recent elections. Indeed, the victory of Citizens First candidates no doubt helped Tuesday's exercise in public democracy happen.

Too often governments exploit every possible trick and exemption to conceal things from the people. Many elected officials view secrecy as the default. To them, open government laws are a burden that set a bare minimum beyond which they need not travel.

Blacksburg figured out that there is a different way to look at it. Government can default to openness, resorting to secrecy only when the law allows it and it is absolutely necessary.