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White Knights: Behind Closed Doors
Ginger D. Richardson and Pat Flannery of the Arizona Republic analyzed records from municipal government meetings in Maricopa County to show that elected officials held 24 to 48 percent of their meetings behind closed doors under the provisions of Arizona's open-meetings law. The review found that governing bodies often conceal the nature and even the topics of closed-door sessions and interpret the law's exemptions so broadly that virtually any topic is eligible for secret debate. Councilmembers in Chandler, Ariz., held four private meetings on their city manager before she was forced out, holding a public hearing only after agreeing on a $100,000 severance package.
· Private Meetings
· Makeup of judiciary: State's top courts are among the least diverse in the nation when it comes to the person holding the gavel
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