TNT Editorial on Taping Bill

Another great editorial on the taping bill, this time from the Tacoma News-Tribune. Addressing the standard objections to the bill raised by some cities and counties, the TNT writes:

"Last we checked, garden-variety tape recorders were almost as cheap as dirt.

"Then there’s the truly intriguing objection that the recordings would have a 'chilling effect' on these private discussions. A chilling effect when – assuming they are legal – only a judge will hear them?

"What that really sounds like is fear of oversight. For the first time, elected officials would have to face a reliable threat of disclosure – not of their candor but of their evasions of the state’s open meetings laws."

Yep. Exactly.