When we say us, we really mean you

Stroll around town, and soon enough you’ll hear something about a “battle” between the newspaper and a local school district.

The publication named in the juicy piece of gossip is this one, The Press — and in the other corner would be the Coeur d’Alene School District.

If you listen to enough retellings, it sounds like war.

It isn’t.

We’re not trying to stifle education — or the hiring of excellent teachers and administrators — and I seriously doubt that the district wants to eliminate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

What we have is an honest disagreement about the information this school district (or any public institution) must disclose upon proper request, and what administrators can stuff into a dark desk drawer.

At one point, it appeared that a court might have to settle the entire discussion, but then the district relented – while saying it really didn’t have to, but why not be nice folks and cooperate?

THE ISSUE up for debate involved the “consultant” contract under which outgoing superintendent Matt Handelman was paid before leaving Coeur d’Alene entirely this summer.

We’ve run news stories about our requests, and then an editorial summing up the situation.

A colleague once told me that editorials are written by the smartest person in the newsroom — and are aimed (intentionally or not) at the smartest readers who get the paper.

Now, I know for a fact that a very intelligent person WROTE the editorial. I’m not sure who all read it, but for the sake of discussion, let’s say everyone who got the message was fairly bright.

OK, I’m not as sharp as the author of that editorial — so my intention here is to reach everyone who might have missed a point or two in all the stories that we’ve published about this affair — and about the rumors, too.

That doesn’t mean I’m writing this for dummies.

Except you. And you, too.

(Sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood a little bit.)

Right...

The basic problem in this dispute is the matter of personnel issues. Officials at almost every public institution understand they must carry on most of their business in front of the world. You know: trustees meetings, city council gatherings and so on,

But it’s often taken for granted that personnel matters like hirings, firings, disciplinary measures (and Handelman’s contract) can be done behind closed doors — and then kept private.

THERE MAY be extraordinary cases where that could be true, but in general...

No.

Public bodies are accountable to the public.

Simple, when you think about it.

And in cases like this one, we (The Press) were carrying out one of our functions; that is, acting as a representative to gather information for the public we serve.

We’re nothing special under the law, either.

Any one of you could write to the Coeur d’Alene School District, ask to see a list of employee salaries, and do so under the same protections as any member of the media.

Furthermore, by saying “any one,” we mean any U.S. citizen is entitled to that information — whether you live next door to the district office or in Miami Beach.

The Handelman case wasn’t really all that important until the district made it a matter of closing its file to the public — to the taxpayers who actually fund the checks of everyone there.

On the public’s behalf, therefore, we had to get involved and assert the right to see the contract.

Next time, the request could come from one of you.

The result eventually would be the same.

- • •

Steve Cameron is a special assignment reporter for The Press. He was formerly executive editor of The Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. — where the paper annually prints a voluminous list of every employee’s salary at Kansas State University, thus incurring the wrath of a famous football coach. Reach Steve at scameron@cdapress.com.