Several Vermont state officials are asking a legislative committee to maintain or enhance the current level of government secrecy for fear, as one put it, of looking like "a dope."
Ronald Shems, chairman of the Vermont Natural Resources Board, said he has practiced as a lawyer before its counterpart in Maine, where he said board members deliberate in public, which Vermont's board doesn't do.
He said discussion is inhibited in Maine because commissioners ask themselves "Am I going to look like a dope?" for raising a certain question.
Sen. Claire Ayer asked Human Rights Commission executive director Karen Richards how the public can know the commission is doing its job, given its confidentiality rules.
Richards responded, "The way the process is set up, you probably would not know that."
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