Democracy Dies in Darkness
Friends,
I just wrote to you three days ago, but there’s already been so much news that I felt compelled to write again today.
At every level of our government, secret meetings are occurring and secret decisions are being made that are having massive impacts on our daily lives.
Last night, Donald Trump unilaterally put out a memo freezing all federal grants, including those already authorized by Congress. This directly hurts working people by putting social programs into jeopardy, cutting aid to colleges and universities, housing support programs, and more. This decision was not subject to Congressional oversight or approval - and so on its face it appears to be blatantly illegal and unconstitutional.
At the Indiana Statehouse, legislators talk out of both sides of their mouths. On the one hand, they reassure public school advocates that the draconian and oppressive HB1136 (which would totally dissolve Indianapolis Public Schools and force them to turn over their assets to charter schools) isn’t likely to move forward during the legislative session.
But behind closed doors, legislators and the deep pockets that are lobbying them are insisting that IPS must voluntarily “share” (or, more correctly, give away while receiving nothing in return) their already diminished resources, in order to avoid the General Assembly taking action on the bill.
In essence, legislators have brought a loaded gun to the negotiating table, and are claiming that they will only use the gun if IPS doesn’t voluntarily give up our wallets and watches.
Parents, teachers, and students are furiously opposing the horrific assault on poor children which is easily visible in HB1136 and HB1002. But thus far, the school board itself as a body has not gotten publicly involved in the discussions.
It would be extremely valuable for the public to have a better sense of what the IPS school board is talking about and how they are intending to orient themselves to these attacks.
Unfortunately, the public has very little clue what is going on, partially due to the abuse of “executive sessions.” These closed-door conversations shut out the public, do not keep minutes from conversations, and usually are expected to be kept strictly confidential. These sessions are commonly used by boards of every organization, and can be a useful, rare tool to facilitate direct conversations and handle confidential information.
But according to IPS’s own calendar, the board has issued public notice for six hours of executive session already just this month. That’s three times as much time as has been spent serving the public in public.
In the absence of a meeting agenda that provides minutes, the public is left to speculate about and fear what is being discussed. Allow me to speculate openly with you.
The local IPS school board majority is bought and paid for by pro-Charter School interests. Stand for Children, RISE Indy, and the Mind Trust have been fighting to undermine traditional public schools for a generation, and have not stopped their attacks at any point, no matter whether IPS works with them in good faith. IPS agreed to create the network of Innovation Schools to allow for more school choice and experimentation with different educational models. The corporatist education “reformers” have weaponized this concession and are now using it as the basis for the fake news that “over 50% of students in IPS’s district do not attend public schools”.
I have a strong suspicion that the pro-charter wing of the school board is arguing along the same lines that their allies in local government did: offer weak lip service to protecting public education, while clearly implying that if IPS does not surrender its resources voluntarily, HB1136 will do it by force.
While the Republican muggers at the statehouse hold the gun, Democrats in Indianapolis are telling the school board “they’re not messing around, they will shoot! Better do what they say!”
And thanks to executive sessions, I’m left to speculate that this same dynamic is playing out on the school board itself. Secrecy and closed-door conversations shut out the public and protect the powerful from accountability.
Sadly, this is becoming par for the course in Indianapolis.
Last night at an Environmental Sustainability Committee meeting, I called out the fact that our mayor used incredibly anti-democratic tactics in order to silently and unilaterally sign a ten-year contract to continue burning trash. (Watch the video from 17:55 - 22:30). The public, the City Council, and even the Council appointees to the Board of Public Works were given zero opportunity to provide input and discuss the decision, which without hyperbole will literally poison children in Marion County.
Similarly, as I wrote about this weekend and as Mirror Indy investigated, Mayor Hogsett’s administration decided to give away some of the most valuable transit-oriented real estate in downtown Indianapolis to Mayor Hogsett’s largest donors to use to create a training facility. This, too, was done with zero public input, zero collaboration with the City Council, and zero transparency.
When we allow our political decisions to be made behind closed doors, when we skirt our already-too-weak Public Access and Open Door laws, when we spend time tearing away the checks and balances in our society, this only benefits one category of people: liars and narcissists.
When you say the same thing no matter which room you’re in, you don’t need to worry about how your words will look in other contexts. When you honestly put your opinions and feelings out to the public and welcome feedback about them, you may ruffle feathers and slow down business deals, but you’ll never be seen as betraying a cause you publicly support, and you'll end up with a compromise position that is more broadly accepted.
I call on every leader in Indianapolis, in Indiana, and in the United States to practice open, transparent, and democratic decision-making. Democracy is messy and slow, but the alternative is authoritarianism and tyranny - and I oppose that from President Trump just as I oppose that from Mayor Hogsett.
Don’t worry, though - we are doing more than just calling on politicians to do the right thing. We are helping them to do so! This Saturday, dozens of us will begin creating a public database of campaign finance that will make it extremely clear to see how often big donors achieve their policy preferences in this city. As a result of this open and public reporting, those who wish to do right by the public will find it much easier and will find a group of people happy to support them in this effort!
How do you feel about all of these closed-door meetings and cloak and dagger activities? What else can I do to help change the political culture of this city? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
In love and solidarity,
Jesse