|  |
 |
School board opposes Initiative 10
| | |
By CHUCK CLEMENT, Staff Reporter
| 10/16/2008 |
| | |
The school board members for the Madison Central School District voiced their disapproval of the passage of Initiated Measure 10 during their meeting on Monday night.
The board members unanimously voted against passage of Initiative 10 through a roll call vote requested by school board president Craig Walker.
The supporters of Initiated Measure 10 are proposing an amendment to the South Dakota Constitution that they call the "Open and Clean Government Act." The supporters have declared that their proposal will provide public disclosure and ethics reform to state and local governments.
Opponents to Initiated Measure 10 argue that its provisions would unfairly silence state and local government employees from speaking with elected officials, in effect gagging them from speaking out on public issues due to their employment.
In summary, the first section of the initiative states that no public body, officer, state or local government employee, or political candidate may directly or indirectly use tax money or other public resources to support a political campaign, government lobbying or political party purposes.
The first section also forbids the payment of organizational dues or membership fees to persons or groups that directly or indirectly engaged in political lobbying and campaigning or party politics. In addition, it forbids any candidate, political committee or political party from accepting any contribution from state or local governments, state or federal agencies, foreign governments, American Indian tribes or the federal government.
The third section of Initiative 10 offers provisions to avoid limiting public officials from performing their constitutional duties. Among those exceptions is a section stating the new law would not affect a public employee acting in an uncompensated and undirected personal capacity who does not represent the interests of a public employer.
Other provisions state that the proposed constitutional change would not apply to:
-- Communications among state legislators and staff members.
-- Communications between elected or appointed public officers and legislators or legislative staff members.
-- Comments or communications from an elected official to his or her constituents.
-- Information from a public officer or employee answering a request to appear before a public body.
-- Communications from employees representing the state Supreme Court or elected state officials -- including the governor, attorney general and state treasurer -- or other executive departments that assess proposals to change state government administration.
The school board members asked Superintendent Vince Schaefer to offer his understanding of how the proposed constitutional amendment would affect their body and the school district.
Previously during the school board meeting, the board members listened to a report from Dianna Miller, the lobbyist for the Large Schools Group. The Large Schools Group, formerly known as ESD+6, represents member school districts, including Madison, during state legislative sessions in Pierre. The member school districts pay for the lobbying through dues paid from their general budgets.
Schaefer told the board that, as he understood the amendment, the school districts would no longer have Miller or the Large Schools Group representing them in Pierre.
"(Initiative 10) would change the way that we do business so much," Schaefer said. "I don't know the benefit of it."
Schaefer also said that the initiative's supporters have not disclosed the donor who gave $400,000 to the "Yes on 10!" project operated by South Dakotans for Clean and Open Government. He said the measure was brought to South Dakota from out-of-state backers who are trying to pass the measure in several states.
According to Schaefer, the initiative would remove free speech rights from public employees such as police officers, firefighters and teachers.
Schaefer also read a written opinion from the Associated School Boards of South Dakota that opposed the passage of Initiative 10.
Walker asked Schaefer if the constitutional amendment would prohibit either himself or Schaefer from participating in the annual visit made by Madison public officials and business people to the state Legislature. Schaefer said that he didn't believe their participation was possible.
Schaefer added that he thought the school might not have the ability to host a political candidate forum such as the meeting scheduled on Oct. 20 for county commissioner and District 8 candidates.
| |
©Madison Daily Leader 2010
| |
| |
|
  | Send us your community news, events, letters to the editor and other suggestions. Now, you can submit birth, wedding and engagement announcements online too!
Copyright © 1995 - 2010 www.madisondailyleader.com All Rights Reserved. |
|
