Secrecy isn't the way we do things here

By Gerald Kato
University of Hawai'i journalism professor

One of the dirty little secrets of government in a democracy is that while public officials will swear allegiance to opening up the process to public scrutiny and participation, sadly, few believe it is workable or even desirable.

This paradox clearly emerges in Board of Regents Chairwoman Lily Yao's recent apologia for the secrecy in hiring Evan Dobelle as the next president of the University of Hawai'i. Yao seems to be making a case for secrecy based on open government being an inconvenience or technicality.

What it comes down to, she says, is that secrecy was essential to the search because that's what the candidates wanted.

Personal desires should not be the basis for blithely ignoring state policy, which says, "Opening up the governmental processes to public scrutiny and participation is the only viable and reasonable method of protecting the public's interest."

The search committee should have made it clear that, at a minimum, the list of finalists be made public because that's the way we do business in Hawai'i.

Obviously, Yao and the regents have their own ideas about conducting the public's business. At a hastily called "special meeting" earlier this week, the regents gave Dobelle a six-year contract at a salary of more than $400,000. It's a done deal and it would seem to be the height of ingratitude to raise any questions, given that Dobelle seems like a fine leader and scholar.

But the secrecy leaves questions that the regents should be obligated to answer. For instance, what qualities did Dobelle have that made him the clear choice over the other finalists? On what basis did the regents decide that he should become the highest paid public servant in Hawai'i?

He may well be worth all that money and more, but the public deserves a clearer explanation rather than falling back on profuse praise for Dobelle's accomplishments. Where's the money coming from in the face of the tight financial picture confronting the university?

James Madison, the father of the First Amendment, knew that government was the business of every citizen, and we would be wise to recall his words on making government accountable:

"A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or both."