By Christopher Klaver
CIO
Posted: September 21, 2016 11:48 AM

“A person shall not be required as a condition of attendance at a meeting of a public body to register or otherwise provide his or her name or other information or otherwise to fulfill a condition precedent to attendance.”

Unless the security guard at the state building in question tells you to sign in and asks for your identification.

Once upon a time, there was no question on that top quote from the Michigan Open Meetings Act. One could sneak in and out of public meetings, often with little notice.

Then came the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and government workers at all levels asked, reasonably so, for more security on their buildings. For the state, that meant putting in barriers and posting a security guard at open entrances.

But, on questioning from Gongwer News Service (See Gongwer Michigan Report, September 15, 2005), state officials acknowledged you could not ask people to sign into the building and have that not be considered signing into the meeting.

The review led to a variety of changes, including moving some meetings to avoid state building security.

In the Capitol Complex buildings, that has meant (usually) getting a badge that says “Public Meeting” before being escorted to the meeting room (after which, meeting attendees often have free roam of the building, but that is for another blog).

So, problem solved, right?

Well, yes, as long as the security person at the building in question has been trained. It was some time after the full review that this reporter attended a Liquor Control Commission meeting where he had to show ID and sign in at the building door, and then sign in again meeting room door, and neither appeared optional.

At a meeting earlier this week, this reporter had to sign into the building, though not show ID.

And many of the boards and commissions continue a practice of asking everyone to introduce themselves, a friendly gesture, but still technically a violation. No one wants to be that person who has to awkwardly pass their turn to stand up and say their name.

Don’t get me wrong. I have no problem signing in or saying my name. It leaves a paper trail to show that I was in fact, working.

But is it time to revisit the OMA, state security, or both?