Security rivaled an airport. Crowds filled the lobby. Commotion, everywhere. No matter where you stood on the issue of the public defender, this was no ordinary leg. meeting. A day later, the republicans say they wouldn't have changed a thing about the way they ran the meeting. "If the arrangements that were very professionally handled by the sheriff's department and court deputies had not been attended to, and someone had gotten hurt, we would be having a very different interview this morning," said majority leader Dan Quatro. But it turns out they might have violated public meetings laws. We spoke to the executive director of the committee on open government. That's a state watchdog group on the public's access to government... And he says two tactics they used were big no-nos. The First: Police escorts to the podium for public speakers. "I believe that that is indeed intimidating, that in all likelihood, there are people who would have wanted to express themselves who probably chose not to," said Robert Freeman. "We had to be concerned for their safety, no more and no less, talk about intimidation. If i was going to speak in favor of the process, i certainly would think twice before having to walk through that crowd," Quatro said. Grievance number two: Because there wasn't even close to being enough seats for everyone who wanted to be inside, spillovers were able to sit across the street and listen to the proceedings, but not see them. A violation, the committee on open government says. "The open meetings law gives the public the right to observe the performance of public officials, in action. An audio feed does not permit that to occur," Freeman said. Again, a rebuttal. "We were very careful to make sure we got the right opinions legally on the issue, it's our opinion that an audio feed definitely meets the standard," Quatro said.
