HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1984-11-07, Page 6r.
L'ucknow Sentinel, Wednes lsyi Nol,ember 7'f I984. -r -page 6
"The Sepoy Town" ' •Estab fished 1873
The Lucknow Sentinel, P.O. Box 400 Lucknow,NOG 2110
Telephone: 528-2822
Pat Livingston General, Manager
Theinas Thompson Advertising Manager
Sharon Dietz r Editor "
Joan Heim w - Compositor
Merle Elliott r Typesetter
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BLUE
RIBBON
AWARD
1984
W1.:,at are they. hidin, g.
' While members of the Wingham and District : Hospital'
Board try ,to come to some, decision on whether or not to
permit the public to attend' theirmeetings,. the meetings
themselves are becoming increasingly secretive. The
meeting held la§t week is a prime example.
Although it was a regular, monthly meeting which,
according to current practice means that reporters (but not
the public at large) are permitted to attend, in fact the only
reporter, at the meeting, was . left cooling . his heels in the
halllwaywhile the board spent fullythree hours of a 34 hour
meeting 'closeted in committee -of -the -whole..
An initial: explanation given prior to. the start of the
meeting was that theboard would have to go into committee
to discuss "personnel matters", However, when., the
chairman called for the *notion to go into committee-of-the-
whole
ommittee-of-the-
whole she did . not, as required by conventional . rules of
procedure, statethe purpose of the closed session and, as it
turned out, it was then used to discuss . everthing from the
question whether or not beard meetings should be opened to
the public tothe painfully slow progress of the new wing.
Penchant For Closed Doors
This penchant for hiding non -confidential' matters behind
closed doors is not new. It bas been develop* over the past •
few years and reached a peak earlier this rear when just • .
such'. a closed session was used to screen from thepublic the
misgivings some board members feltover details of the
proposed building project and to ,hatnmer through -despite
a previous inotion.aimedat preventing it - final approval ofd
the project, which never was ''discussed fully in public .
It is the task of the media.to act as the eyes and ears of the
public and, in fulfilling its function; this newspaper has for
• many years enjoyed a generally harmonious relationship,,,
with a succession of hospital boards: Reporters frequently
were permitted tos t in,.on-cominittee-of the -whole sessions,
with the tacit understanding that information thus,. obtained
would be : used only as backgrounds to provide a better
understanding of matters under discussion..'
This practice. has been discontinued, without explanation';
• and .the subject matter for such sessions traditionally.
limited to discussions involving personnel; property transac- •
tions or litigation. - has been broadened to include virtually
anything which the administrator, the chairman or . a
majority of the board may wish to conceal from . public
scrutiny.
Want Open Meetings
• Members ,of the hospital.association. indicated their wish
for an open door policy at board meetings by an overwbel`rn-
ing margin at the annual meeting last June. So far that has
not been sufficient to open the doors and, indeed, it seems
increasingly likely that if the public is permitted access to
board meetings the discussion during public sessions will be
limited to. trivial and non controversial matters, with the
balance of the meetings conducted in camera.
It has been argued by both the chairman and the
administrator that no other hospitals permit public access to
their board meetings: That, as at least some trustees are
now aware, is not true. It also misses the point that
people here have *expressed' a desire for greater access to
THEIR hospital board. For the board to deny that access, it
should have very powerful _reasons indeed.
The hospital; through a fund raising committee, recently,
canvassed local communities for money to support its
, building program: The support hasbeen forthcoming, but
so too have been widespread expressions of discontent with .
the current state of affairs 'at the hospital. The gulf between
hospital and community, which was described last year by .a
consultant . laying the groundwork for the, fund raising
• .campaign, has widened. If the board hopes to close it, it will
have to learn to extend to the people of this area some of the
same trust and confidence it is asking from them.
-Wingham Advance -Times.
Q
Pioneer baking.
Pioneer crafts
Cabin building
Pioneer butter ma
(Photos by Sharon Dietz