On September 5, Governor Paterson vetoed a bill that would have improved the access of the public to documents used by participants at open meetings.

There is a nice summary of this situation at the the Legislative Gazette:

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"My bill would have dramatically improved access to government information and built on my ongoing efforts to open up New York state government. I believe that we are missing out on an opportunity to help make our government more transparent and accountable to New Yorkers," said bill sponsor Sen. John A. DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse.

The bill (S.7042/A.5943), which was sponsored in the Assembly by Margaret M. Markey, D-Maspeth, would have guaranteed that records considered to be the subject of discussion at open meetings be accessible to the public three days prior to the meetings or "to the extent practicable."

"Far too often a public body covered by the Open Meetings Law will hold a discussion of a document that the public has had little or no access to prior to the meeting. This inhibits the public from being able to ask informed questions and to fully understand the document being discussed. My bill would have corrected that problem," said DeFrancisco.

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By vetoing this bill, Governor Paterson is sending a clear message that he does not want members of the public to be particularly well informed about the activies in which our elected government engages. Because of his hostility toward open government, Mr. Paterson ought not be governor.