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WHEELING - Governments of all sizes have reduced the amount of information made available to the public in recent years, a First Amendment expert believes - and that trend apparently is trickling down to Wheeling and Ohio County.

It has been more than three months since the Sunday News-Register submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to Ohio County officials seeking documentation related to work at The Highlands. County officials have yet to release any of the requested bidding documents related to site work for various phases of the Cabela's Distribution Center.

In another instance, the newspaper has learned that some members of Wheeling City Council discuss council business - including how they might vote on an issue - with one another over the phone prior to council meetings. Members also held an "executive work session" closed to the public to discuss issues of "personnel and land acquisition" shortly after taking office in July.

Gene Policinski, vice president and executive director for the non-profit and non-partisan First Amendment Center in Washington, D.C., said the practice of governments restricting public access to information is not uncommon.

"Governments want to withhold information because they want to control the message that is being released. ... They want to make themselves look good," Policinski said.

Policinski said another reason governments want to restrict access to information is because of the growth of the Internet.

"Because there is so much available on the Internet, governments want to keep their release of records to a minimum because they know how much information will get out," Policinski said.

Policinski said he expects governments to continue practicing the increased secrecy, regardless of political affiliations.

"At the federal level, most First Amendment advocates have been very frustrated with the amount of secrecy in the Bush Administration. President-elect (Barack) Obama has said he will be more open, but we will believe it when we see it," he said.

Ohio County Development

Authority

In reply to the newspaper's Freedom of Information Act letter sent to Ohio County Administrator Greg Stewart in September 2008 concerning work at The Highlands, county Commissioner David Sims wrote that as president of the Ohio County Development Authority, the request should have been directed to him.

In his letter to the newspaper dated Sept. 12, Sims said the requested documents would be furnished "for inspection and examination" at the commission office. But since it would involve compiling "hundreds" of documents, the task would "require significant time to assemble."

"Further, as we all know, this request is a result of The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register doing the bidding of a disgruntled private citizen and has nothing to do with the 'public interest,"' Sims wrote, failing to name the citizen he was referring to. "You have the right to make the request you have made and we will respond as required by law, but let's not pretend that there is some high minded motive behind the request.

"It is difficult to estimate the amount of manpower it will take to assemble the records. ... As soon as the county has assembled the records, we will contact you."

Sims also noted that while he understands such FOIA requests are important in a democracy, they are also "time consuming and distracting to the day to day operations of the county."

"Further, your request will necessarily require Greg Stewart to expend considerable time and effort assisting with the assembly (of) the records," Sims wrote. "... It is very frustrating and unproductive for the county for him to have to divert his focus and attention to what amounts to 'busy work' for him. That having been said, the county will endeavor to lawfully comply with your request."

Sims did not return calls last week seeking comment about the status of the requested information. Ohio County Commissioner Randy Wharton said he "had no idea" of the status of the information. Commissioner Tim McCormick also said he did not know the status of the FOIA request. Stewart referred all questions to Sims.

Wheeling City Council

During a Dec. 2 City Council meeting, members rejected an ordinance that would have permitted right turns on red at the intersection of Bae Mar Place and National Road by a vote of 6-1, with Mayor Andy McKenzie voting in favor of the ordinance.

Councilman Don Atkinson noted during the meeting that council rejected the ordinance because of safety concerns, while McKenzie - speaking after the meeting - agreed with Atkinson's concerns.

Since the meeting's end, Atkinson has said publicly on several occasions that he and his fellow council members discussed the issue via telephone prior to the Dec. 2 meeting.

"It is a common courtesy among council members. ... Everyone asked me what I thought about that issue because it was something in my ward," he said.

Atkinson, who is serving his first term in elected office, said he will continue to ask fellow council members for their opinions on issues affecting their wards.

"If there is something going on in Warwood, I will ask Gloria (Delbrugge) about it because she has a better understanding of how the issue will impact Warwood than I do," he said.

Normally, advice on ward issues is given to council members by the city manager, not by the council member who represents a particular ward.

Lew Brewer, executive director of the West Virginia Ethics Commission, said discussion of such matters should take place in an open forum, such as a council meeting.

"Actual debate and discussion on the merits of these issues should be done in an open meeting," he said.

When asked why council members could not discuss the matters during the meeting, Atkinson noted such action would take too long.

"We don't want to be (at council meetings) every Tuesday until one or two in the morning," he said.

When called last week, McKenzie vehemently disputed that any council business has been done out of the public's eye.

"City council is 100 percent transparent. ... That's one of the issues I heard (with previous councils), that they had not been transparent enough," McKenzie said.

"There are no secret meetings, no pre-votes, no pre-discussion. The 6-1 vote (on the Bae Mar Place issue) is a good example. I had no idea anyone was going to vote against that. ... I have never had a council member call me (and) I have never called a council member to discuss any issue. This council has been very honest and very open; there is no secret or hidden agenda that this council has."

In July, shortly after the current council was sworn into office, McKenzie called for council members to meet behind closed doors for what he termed an "executive work session." When questioned further regarding the purpose of the meeting, McKenzie said council would be meeting to discuss matters of "personnel and land acquisition." These matters are among those which council members can legally withhold information from citizens under the West Virginia Open Meetings Law, otherwise known as the Sunshine Law .

But Brewer said such explanations for holding an executive session are "not specific enough."

"The (meeting) agenda should give reasonable notice to the public and media as to what will be discussed during the executive session. ... If the agenda said something like, 'executive session to discuss land acquisition to build a new public swimming pool,' that would be more acceptable," Brewer said.

Councilman Robert "Herk" Henry also has said that he was told the purpose of the initial executive work session was to ensure that all members of council were on the same page concerning the agenda for the following day's meeting. Council has since abandoned holding such sessions.