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One of the first stories I wrote as a rookie government reporter years ago was about public access to public meetings. It was a comparative look at the City-County Building versus the Statehouse—predominantly when and where meetings were held.
When it came to timing, local government fared slightly better than the other end of Market Street because the City-County Council holds its committee hearings and full meetings after hours. A few quasi-governmental agencies do, as well, though many local boards and commissions meet during the day.
The state, on the other hand, holds almost all its gatherings during the workday. That includes the General Assembly when lawmakers are in session, as well as regular meetings of state boards, commissions and regulatory entities.
To this day, I’ll never forget the ham-handed response from a city official who told me that if people really wanted to come to a meeting during the day, they could just take time off work to do it. Because that’s how our of-by-and-for-the-people government is supposed to operate.
But let’s say you don’t work during the day or you’re willing to make that sacrifice: When it comes to actually getting to the meetings, folks have additional hurdles to clear.
Parking in and around the City-County Building and the Statehouse can be expensive and challenging to find. Security lines in both buildings can be long. Once you’re inside, you still have to find your way around the occasionally labyrinthine halls of government. Oh, and testimony on some legislation is time-limited, so you might not get to say anything even if you’re there.
It’s not the easiest journey in the world, and it’s not a huge surprise that, unless there’s a hot topic on the agenda, most public meeting rooms are either empty or filled with people who get paid to be there.
Here’s the crazy thing: I wrote that news story more than two decades ago, and not much has changed—at least when it comes to people being able to interact with their government.
Even during the pandemic, when dozens of other states were shifting to remote meetings and public engagement, Indiana stayed the course.
Watching government in action has, of course, become easier over the decades, with televised feeds you can stream on your phone or laptop. But the fact that you still have to show up in person if you want to speak on the record feels overly restrictive.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that lawmakers took up a pair of bills this year that would make it easier for Hoosiers to watch state utility regulators conduct their business and ensure more public meetings when utilities want to raise rates.
But when it comes to inviting constituents to easily interact with their democratically elected government, voicing their concerns without having to travel to the Statehouse or the City-County Building, we still have a long way to go.•
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Chartier is a lifelong Indianapolis resident and owner of Mass Ave Public Relations. Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.
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