The Blaine County Board of Commissioners should throw open the doors to the public for interviews with eight candidates for four of five seats on the new Blaine County Aviation Advisory Committee.
Instead, the commissioners have scheduled closed-door interviews over the next two days with candidates whose names were revealed to the public today.
The new advisory commission will not only influence public policy as the primary group that advises the Friedman Memorial Airport Authority, it may end up as the body that will oversee management of a new and relocated airport.
The county commissioners decided to close the doors using a section of the Idaho Open Meeting Law that allows private meetings on personnel matters or "to consider hiring a public officer."
However, the law doesn't require the meetings to be closed.
In fact, the Idaho attorney general's manual on the Open Meeting Law states, in underlined type, "In other words, the act authorizes, but does not require closed meetings."
Closing the airport interviews is bad policy. The board will consider candidates for key political seats. Appointees may have enormous influence over the existing members of the airport authority.
Proposed relocation of Friedman Memorial Airport in Hailey to one of three or four other sites has caused heartburn and controversy up and down the valley as the process mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration has unfolded.
The airport in Hailey is owned and operated jointly by the city and Blaine County. When a new airport is built, the responsibility will fall to the county and a new airport authority.
The county commissioners decided that creating understudies for the present authority members would help mend political rifts over relocation that had developed between north county and south county interests. It would also provide training for future members of a new authority that will oversee a new airport.
Interviewing the understudies in private will open the door to rumor and speculation. The public will learn nothing about candidates' backgrounds, interests and views. It will be left in the dark about questions put to the candidates and deprived of observing the process that will lead to decisions on appointments.
The choices won't be easy and each appointment will open another opportunity for disagreement.
Closed-door interviews might seem easier to the county commissioners, but they will damage public trust and create suspicion with appointments intended to accomplish just the opposite.
