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Transparency In North Carolina's Local Governments

During Sunshine Week the media celebrates open government and transparency in public records.
Holley St. Germain
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Flickr Creative Commons

Media outlets mark Sunshine Week as a time to celebrate and promote open government laws and free access to public records.

But state law also allows local governments to hold closed door sessions for certain situations. An investigation by Carolina Public Press found some city councils and county commissions in western North Carolina held dozens of closed meetings last year, raising questions about when, where and how elected officials should be able to conceal a range of proceedings.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Frayda Bluestein, professor of public law and government at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Jon Elliston, investigative reporter for Carolina Public Press, about public access to local government meetings.

Bluestein contributes to the UNC School of Government's blog about local government law.

Will Michaels is WUNC's Weekend Host and Reporter.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.