Society of Professional Journalists of San Diego

Secrecy has always been the mantra for government. If history has taught us anything, it's that when a government can hide its conduct from the people, it's the people who pay the price. It's not a stretch to say the survival of a democracy requires open access to the inner workings of the government, both to its meeting and to its records.

That is why the San Diego Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is encouraging you to support an amendment to the state constitution of California called SCA 7. The Open Government Sunshine Amendment mandates the government carry out its business in the light of public scrutiny. It would allow voters to strengthen the public's right to access government deliberations and records.

This amendment has to pass both the state senate and assembly by a two-thirds majority before it can be placed on the ballot. A majority of voters would then have to approve the amendment before it became law. SCA 7 passed out of the senate June 28 by a 32-0 vote and is now in the state assembly.

Why should this concern you? Because California's current Sunshine Laws are weak and easily circumvented. Face it, even with the best of intentions, you can't trust the government to behave itself. The public's business must be done in public. The San Diego Board of the Society of Professional Journalists has joined several other organization in supporting this bill and we encourage all journalists who believe in freedom of information to do the same.