GREAT MOMENTS IN TRANSPARENCY

Michigan Messenger, Lansing - City Attorney Brigham Smith wants a working group being put together to develop new Freedom of Information Act policies for the city in the wake of a series of incidents earlier this year where he was criticized for being careless with private information. But the details of the capital city's information disclosure guidelines will be hammered out in private.

"I actually think it's better if we don't [open the meetings] for the reason we can probably be more candid that way," Smith said late last week when asked if the meetings would be open to the public.

Omar Chaudhary, a lawyer from Butzel Long, which runs a legal hotline in conjunction with the Michigan Press Association, said Smith can argue the group is creating a legal opinion, which would be protected by attorney-client privilege. That, he said, means the group can meet in closed session and with no public input.

"They're trying to be very clever with the law," Chaudary said. . .

Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope, also a working group member, said he doesn't have a problem with the group meeting behind closed doors. "I think it's not a body covered by the Open Meetings Act," Swope said. . .