Attendees sit in overflow seating in a hallway connecting to the Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting room in August 2023 in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Brent Fuchs/For Oklahoma Voice)
For several months now, I’ve felt like we’ve been forced to witness a petty middle school break up between two popular kids and a teenage-angst debate about who can sit at the cool kids’ lunch table.
The problem is we’re not in middle school any more, and we’re all watching a group of dunces – who we’ve entrusted with a great deal of power – throw a very public temper tantrum, weaponize our Open Meeting Act and attempt to make unilateral decisions over who should be classified as media.
And nobody is showing an iota of leadership. (I’m looking at you, high-ranking Republicans: Attorney General Gentner Drummond, Gov. Kevin Stitt, state Superintendent Ryan Walters, Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat and House Speaker Charles McCall and every other elected lawmaker who has any shred of influence.)
The latest drama surrounding state Board of Education meeting access hinges around who should be seated in an overflow room that I’ve secretly nicknamed the “loser lounge” or “reject room” depending on the occasion.
Why? Because in case you’ve forgotten, this illustrious board has chosen to meet in the equivalent of a matchbox while dozens of their constituents camp out overnight to try to enter that room and witness what their government is doing, and maybe to give their elected leaders a piece of their mind. They sit in chairs in the dark or sleep in their cars because they know not everyone will be allowed in the official meeting room.
This GOP-created circus has persisted for over a year.
A couple of months ago, I received the patented “loser lounge” treatment.
Having just covered a protest outside a monthly board meeting, I strolled into the Oliver Hodge Building unfashionably late.
A security guard took one look at my clothes, sneakers and face flushed from the heat, and pointed me to the overflow room, saying the main meeting room was at capacity.
I was deeply unhappy, but it wasn’t surprising that the main meeting room was at capacity. More people have been showing up for meetings than there have been seats for months.
For reference, the “reject room” is a small makeshift overflow meeting room that has chairs crammed inside along with a large TV that plays a live-stream of the meeting.
Winding up in the overflow room was one-off for Oklahoma Voice. But KFOR has been consigned to the “loser lounge” for months now. Taking a page from Donald Trump’s playbook, our state education officials have dubbed Oklahoma City’s NBC affiliate “fake news.”
Last week, KFOR sued in federal court seeking to force education officials to admit them into the main meeting room. Among other things, they argued that state leaders are discriminating by randomly deciding which media outlets can attend public meetings.
During arguments , The Oklahoman reports, education officials blamed security and space issues for why KFOR was barred, but also mentioned “false reporting” and a lack of journalism ethics.
A federal judge agreed that KFOR shouldn’t be relegated to the “loser lounge” — at least temporarily.
I can’t believe we’re wasting court resources and taxpayer money fighting over whether this television station is legitimate media.
Spoiler alert: they are legitimate. And many of the people who watch their coverage, from Oklahoma’s metros to the rural residents who elected Walters, depend on them to know what their state superintendent is doing.
Yeah, sometimes more broadly a media outlet’s reporting might have as many holes as OU’s offensive line, but that doesn’t make a news outlet illegitimate.
Almost immediately after the ruling, word spread among the remaining media outlets that typically attend these meetings that there would be no guaranteed media access to Thursday’s meeting. The media should plan to wait in line like everyone else.
Our reporter arrived to get in line for the meeting at 7 a.m. When I stopped by at 8:30 — an hour before the scheduled start time — there were already several dozen people awaiting entry.
Ironically, KFOR was already in the building, but the other news outlets were not. Oklahoma Voice did ultimately receive a seat in the meeting room.
This isn’t about giving the media special treatment. This is about ensuring that we’re making public meetings accessible to everybody.
Nothing replaces being there. It’s interesting being able to watch the body language, whispered conversations and confrontations.
And nobody should have to line up for a public meeting.
We are a government of the people, for the people. Not a government for some of the people — or even one that caters to those that have the luxury to wait for hours in line.
Our public officials have been on notice for more than a year now that there’s more demand to attend these meetings than there is space.
Yet nobody is taking the initiative to move them or force them to be moved.
There is at least one room in the state Capitol building that can hold over 100 people. Our 101-member state House held a session in one of those spaces while their chambers were being renovated.
Why aren’t our legislative leaders urging Walters to move them there and offering free access to the space?
Why aren’t our state Board of Education members pressing Walters to make the meetings more accessible?
Who is finally going to show some leadership?
Bueller? Bueller??
Yeah. The silence is deafening.
Now, we’re facing a lawsuit over meeting room access. Maybe one good thing will come of it? State education officials have acknowledged in court that they know their meeting room size isn’t sufficient.
They should consider themselves on notice.
It’s time for someone to gird their loins and show that they know how to lead.
Public meetings should be about what happens inside, not what’s happening before they begin.
Let’s hope next month’s meeting agenda reflects a plan to meet in a larger venue, making this juvenile fight over access to the “loser lounge” moot.
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