The role of the media is to hold power to public accountability

There is a saying in journalism that the news is what someone does not want you to publish, everything else is just public relations.

The quote has been ascribed to many people over the years, and it may be one of those things that has become more of a proverb than an actual quotation.

Journalism has many sides. There are surface stories that do not have any meat on the bones. There are informative stories, and difficult stories, and those that can pull at your heartstrings. There are stories that are boring as dry toast—such as a boilerplate budget meeting—but they still need to be told.

Many years ago, our family experienced a horrible tragedy that took place here in Estes Park at a relative’s home and I know what it is like to go to the door and tell a gaggle of reporters to go away because the family is grieving and no one is going to talk to them.

A local, independent, community press that can push hard for information from elected officials, hired government workers, businesses, nonprofits—basically any organization that holds public power and controls lots of money—is essential to democracy.

It is the media’s job to be a watchdog of public institutions. The public wants to know what their elected officials are doing, and media play an important role in providing information that informs the public about their community.

Without the media being present at public meetings, asking tough questions, requesting records,  there are things the public would not know, questions like how much money did the Town’s former police chief get when it was decided that after less than a year on the job, he was not the right person for the job.

And how many people’s professional careers were derailed as a result of that situation?

How many personal lives were disrupted when things went south in that situation?

How many people are still waiting for resolution? How many have moved on and are working to rebuild their reputations?

And at the end of the day, how much will that situation have cost our community in wages paid during the time people were put on administrative leave? And how much has been spent by the town on attorney fees, and how much has been paid out in settlements?

And what were the reasons behind why the former chief of the Estes Valley Fire Protection District suddenly resigned this summer after just three months on the job? What has that situation cost the Fire District in both time, money, and morale?

Those are important questions, and it is the role of the media to pursue the answers. And the Estes Valley Voice will pursue the answers to those questions.

Over the past six decades, our national and state governments have enacted sunshine laws to require the public’s business to be conducted in public. The state Legislature enacted the Colorado Open Records Act, known as CORA, in 1969. It is modeled after the federal Freedom of Information Act, which goes by the acronym FOIA and was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 4, 1966.

The Colorado Sunshine Law for open meetings was first passed in 1972 and then modified in 1996. According to the state’s open meetings law, all meetings of two or more members of any public body where any public business is discussed must be open to the public. A gathering of a quorum or three or more individuals of a local body constitutes a meeting. Emailed messages discussing pending actions constitute meetings and are subject to the law.

The legislative declaration of the Colorado Open Records Act begins with the words, “It is declared to be the public policy of this state that all public records shall be open for inspection by any person at reasonable times.” The state’s Sunshine Law states, “It is declared to be a matter of statewide concern and the policy of this state that the formation of public policy is public business and may not be conducted in secret.”

Both the letter and the spirit of the laws are that the public’s business needs to be conducted in public with transparency to citizens.

While there are provisions for elected bodies to use executive sessions to discuss some matters behind closed doors—such as personnel issues or to consult with their attorneys about certain things—it is expected that organizations funded by tax money will conduct their business in the open with transparency and accountability.

Since January 2023, leading up to the May 2023 election where voters in the Park Hospital District gave the hospital directors authorization to enter into discussions with nonprofit health care institutions aimed at some kind of affiliation or acquisition, the hospital board has met in private, closed-door session more than 100 times.

Some of those executive sessions are just one minute long. Some of the closed-door sessions are hours and hours long, and on several occasions the directors have met more than once a day in executive session.

After 17 months since the ballot question was passed by the voters, the Estes Park community has grown tired of being told that the hospital board cannot give the community any information about what is going on with its hospital because of non-disclosure agreements. In an exchange of emails with the Estes Valley Voice, the hospital will not confirm when the board authorized those agreements.

Estes Park Health is not a private hospital. It is a public organization funded in part by a 7.505 mil levy on property.

The community is waiting for transparency.

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The Estes Valley Voice is committed to transparency, honesty and accountability both in our public taxpayer funded organizations and in the way we conduct our business.

The Estes Valley is a small community, and inevitably, our writers, editors, and other members of our creative team will have previous connections with the subject of a story, or the people involved in an issue.

We make this commitment to our readers and to our community:

Our writers and editors will not cover stories in which they have any direct prior connection, financial interest, or a personal relationship with the individuals, organizations, or advocacy groups in the story.

We will immediately address any apparent bias with our Editorial Board.

We will respond to allegations of bias publicly and we will correct and publish factual errors.

Before launching the Estes Valley Voice, we wrote a lengthy statement that spells out our journalistic ethics. You can read that statement here.