When I filed to run for delegate to Montana’s 1972 Constitutional Convention, I felt that writing a new Constitution was all about “We the People.”
Those electing the delegates were “We the People of Montana” who then ratified our Constitution, creating a government by which ee govern ourselves through elections. We hold the power of government by electing officials to represent us and serve our interests.
We are not the subjects of our state government – we are more like owners. It’s our government. Those we elect are our public servants.
One of my primary interests as a delegate was insuring government transparency. Our 1889 Constitution did not require “transparency.” Before the 1972 Constitution, We had no idea how our elected officials were performing their duties.
Our 1972 Constitution changed that.
Before 1972, voting by legislative committees was closed to the public – committee votes were not recorded. Legislative votes during floor sessions (except for Third Reading) were also not recorded. We could not tell how any legislator really voted.
Our 1972 Constitution requires all sessions of the legislature to be open to the public. Every vote of every legislator on any substantive question must be publicly recorded. That’s fifty-three years of public scrutiny. We now have a report card – a voting record – on what legislators do. Legislative records are open and honest to our voter/citizens.
Our Bill of Rights requires openness from all agencies of state and local government. Our “right of participation” requires governmental agencies at all levels to provide a reasonable opportunity for citizens’ participation in the operations of agencies prior to final decisions, including submitting their views at public hearings.
Also in our Bill of Rights is the citizens’ “right to know” – designed to open government. The right to know is a self-executing constitutional provision that is immediately effective without implementing legislation. The right to know provides that no person be deprived of the right to examine documents or observe the deliberations of public bodies or agencies of government except in when demands of individual privacy clearly exceed the merits of public disclosure.
Subject to that privacy exception, our Constitution intends that the deliberation and resolution of all public matters be subject to public scrutiny and awareness – that “We the People” are given every reasonable opportunity to comment or otherwise participate before any final governmental decision is made.
Montana government is our government. The right to participate in it and know “who is doing what” can be accomplished by individual citizens utilizing these tools of transparency set forth in our Constitution. It is my belief that “We the People” have an inherent duty to utilize these tools, given to us in our Constitution, to keep our government open. Public trust in our government will come from knowing that government affairs are conducted in public view. Respect for our government will only occur when the activities of government are visible. Government operates most effectively, most reliably, and is most accountable when it is subject to public scrutiny. Mischief is a close companion of secrecy.
I believe that when Montana’s Constitutional Convention delegates proposed the openness and transparency provisions of our Constitution we deemed transparency essential to a democratic republic – that the deliberation and resolution of all public matters be subject to public scrutiny and participation. “We the People” must use the tools of transparency to ensure the concept of ordered liberty encapsulated in our founding documents remain. After all, we were warned at a national level more than two centuries ago that “the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”
Jerome Loendorf, a retired Helena attorney, served as a delegate to the 1972 Constitutional Convention and was Vice Chair of the Con Con Legislative Committee. Jerry, a Wolf Point native, practiced law in Helena for more than 50 years. Jerry participated before state and federal courts regarding ratification of Montana’s 1972 Constitution.