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Editorial: Details needed on governor's travels

Murky laws put officials' calendars off limits to public.

Last update: September 26, 2009 - 4:55 PM

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OFFICIAL RESPONSE

"Our office closely follows state laws and the long-standing opinions of the Department of Administration, that predate Governor Pawlenty's time in office, regarding calendar data. Previous governors also did not make their internal calendars public. In addition, our office is not involved with the Governor's outside political activities and as a result we do not maintain information about fundraisers or other political activities. News media and the public have many opportunities to see and speak with the Governor. As one example, every week the public is able to call-in and ask the Governor questions directly on his weekly radio show. Very few, if any, other governors around the country are accessible to their constituents in this way."

Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung

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Gov. Tim Pawlenty isn't officially running for president. But his recent high-profile speeches, his strong finish in a Republican presidential straw poll and last week's announcement that he's forming a political action committee certainly suggest that Minnesota's chief executive officer is interviewing for another job.

There's nothing wrong with that. A gubernatorial job is a common presidential proving ground. Among those who've made the leap: Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Both Clinton and Bush were sitting governors when they launched their White House bids.

But as Pawlenty travels the nation, his home state faces its most severe budget crisis in decades. Unemployment hovers near 8 percent. Minnesota still needs its CEO. And Minnesotans need assurance that the state remains Pawlenty's priority.

By declining to detail his political travels, Pawlenty is missing an important opportunity to provide that assurance. This information is a critical gauge of how much time he's spending on speeches vs. state business. While it's not unusual for presidential aspirants to keep their schedules private, Minnesota would be better served if the governor were more open about his whereabouts.

Official details about the governor's political travel are hard to come by. The governor's website does not post his schedule. Journalists on the governor's e-mail list, and media organizations big enough to have a State Capitol office, do get frequent updates. But they're often blank -- as they were for 28 days this summer -- or simply list lightweight events such as ribbon cuttings or the governor's weekly radio show.

What the schedule doesn't show are the political events that take Pawlenty away from the state. Open records requests by the media and other organizations for a more detailed calendar of events have been rebuffed. Asked about this by Star Tribune reporters recently, Pawlenty said: "There is something called Google now, or Bing -- you can Bing.''

Minnesotans deserve better than this cavalier response.

At the root of the problem are Minnesota's murky, out-of-date open records laws and policies. Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung correctly points out that some previous governors did not make their internal calendars available. That's because current law and policies give too much leeway to governors, commissioners and other public-sector executives who want to keep their schedules from the citizens they serve. One Chicago-based nonpartisan organization recently rated Minnesota's disclosure laws as some of the Midwest's weakest and most confusing.

That should change. Access to every public employee's calendar isn't necessary. But executive-level officials should be held to a higher standard of accountability. How high-ranking officials spend their time and whom they're meeting with should not be off limits.

Minnesota's aging sunshine laws are overdue for an overhaul. The debate over Pawlenty's schedule puts a much-needed spotlight on that; this must be a top legislative priority. Minnesota should be a national leader -- not a regional laggard -- when it comes to government openness.

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Opinion Exchange is produced by the Editorial Department, which is dedicated to hosting the discussion on a range of issues of interest to Star Tribune readers online and in print. In its new format, it's our hope that Opinion Exhange will create a more dynamic dialogue between Star Tribune readers and the Editorial Board. Many individual posts will be written and signed by members of the Editorial Board and will reflect their own opinions. Daily editorials will continue to represent the institutional voice of the newspaper and be researched and written by the Editorial Department, which is independent of the newsroom.

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