Sunday, July 05, 2015

Bartosh: We couldn't do our job if we had to follow the Sunshine Law

Someone needs to explain the purpose of Missouri's Sunshine Law to Jasper County Presiding Commissioner John Bartosh.

It is not designed to make things convenient for him and his fellow county commissioners. It is there so the people will know how their elected officials are conducting the people's businesses.

Weeks after the County Commission ignored the Sunshine Law by discussing candidates for vacancies on the Joplin R-8 Board of Education, the Joplin Globe, which has taken the Commission to task for skating around the law in the past, finally decided to address the issue.

Now that the issue appears to be settled, the Globe decided to weigh in.

 From today's article:

Bartosh told the Globe this past week that the vote to approve the appointees took place in a public meeting, although discussions leading up to that vote weren't necessarily part of an open meeting.

"As far as I am concerned, we as commissioners, we have to talk about stuff, and there would be no reason for us to be here if we didn't talk about stuff," he said. How do you think a business could run if they didn't visit with each other within the business? There's no way we could do something without saying, 'Hey, what do you think about this?' and then we put it on the agenda."

Yes, Mr. Bartosh, there is a way it can be done. All you have to do is set aside a portion of your time to plan things that need to be placed on the agenda for discussion purposes, post them, and then allow the citizens and media the opportunity to listen to those discussions. It would take a little more work and you might not like doing it, but you can't ignore the law because it is inconvenient.

Unless, of course, Judge Carlton is the one who determines if the law has been broken.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The problem isn't with the law, then, it's with the way Mr. Bartosh works. He's not alone. Fortunately, there are others who will be filling these various positions over time who know how to act in compliance with the law.

Anonymous said...

Remember this come election time!

Pare E. Mason said...

As a pretend lawyer, I would just like to point out that the Judge was was unquestionably correct in his ruling. When lay people such as Turner read the written law they often forget that the legal class, much like priests in medieval times, will tell you what the law actually means. We understand the yeahbut clause, which states: the law reads thus,...yeah but.,,. In short, Turner is wrong, and none of you understand anything. If you need any further clarification, please fork over a ton of money and your friendly neighborhood lawyer will astound you with inexplicable logic.

Anonymous said...

06:10
Hey,thanks for putting everyone down in your extremely poor written response. You were VERY quick with your attempt,in lecturing everyone, about the ruling. Tried again to lead us to where we just might find the answers. What you continually failed to do,after putting down Mr.Turner and his readers,is enlighten us with all your great knowledge of the law. That's a pretty tall soapbox your standing on,while looking down your nose at the rest of us. I shouldn't have wasted my time,on your tasteless and pointless comments,commenting but the way you stated it really rubbed me wrong.

Anonymous said...

something is wrong,when we have commissioners that can ignor the law and GET BUY WITH IT,or will thay,we need to check to see what the attorney genrals office is willing to do to show the commissoners thay to half to obay the law as well
TIME FOR THE JOPLIN TAX PAYERS TO CLEAN HOUSE AT ELECTION TIME

Anonymous said...

Funny how the first thing people say on this blog when something they don't like or understand is that the response is "poorly written". That's always your best play..lol!!

Anonymous said...

11:18
Not always the first thing,in my opinion. Also,sir or madam,that's a big leap to make saying a collective "we",when it comes to understanding. When something is stated,that has no basis, and indeed is written poorly, what more could you state? That person was called,on the validity of the statements, as well as how he tried,so desperately, to make the point. So please,don't group everyone into the same category, just to try & make your point.

Anonymous said...

It's called "sarcasm" Sheldon. Read it again. Mason is obviously satire. The writer was poking fun at the very people who do look down their noses at the common folk.

Anonymous said...

So it's OK for all Jasper County residents to break the laws since the elected officials say it is.
So that's why Washington DC politicians do what they do. However they never get anything done.

Anonymous said...

Okay 12:41....you are obviously way in over your head. The irony is that your response is so poorly written I feel I have to call you on it. You used, incorrectly, THIRTEEN commas in your short post. What more can I state?..lol. Did I make my point this time? Yikes!!

Dul Pensil said...

lol!

Too bad the slash s is banned here. It would prevent some confucion.