When the public has a right to know

James Madison once said, "A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy - or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."

The American Civil Liberties Union has long argued that government secrecy about its operations endangers individual liberty. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was passed by Congress in 1966 and amended in 1974. Based on the premise argued by Madison that openness in government will assist citizens in making the informed choices necessary to a democracy.

Last week this newspaper ran a release about salmonella issued by the Lake County Health Department that was incomplete. It was wrong on our part to run that release at all without further investigation. The release did not disclose the name of the restaurant where salmonella was detected. In many cases in cities around the country health departments not only immediately disclose that information but place ratings of a restaurant at the front of the store with the grade upfront where the public can see it and make an informed choice.

It took several days for us to finally discover which restaurant was the one that had problems. When we called to inquire we were told to call the County Attorney. The person answering the phone refused to disclose the information because the supervisor wasn't in, perhaps that was understandable. Still that should not have happened.

Although much of what happened was not the deliberate fault of the restaurant owners it was something that the public had a right to know. In fact the health department did not disclose the information until someone who had contracted salmonella from the restaurant came into this office and told us.

Then we were able to gain confirmation from the health department. As a matter of fact, they sent us the file regarding the specifics of the restaurant in question and said that it was public record, so in the end the Lake County Health Department cooperated.

The point is the Health Department has a responsibility to the public, so the public can make an informed choice about the restaurant they are taking their families to. To withhold information about the establishment's rating, the name of the establishment or problems the establishment has, does not promote the public good. It also leaves questions in the minds of those trying to gain the facts and turns what should be a routine procedure into an overblown issue.

The Health Department should have disclosed the name of the restaurant in the original release to cover all bases and we should have held that release until further investigation.

In the future, perhaps we'll all be more careful "assisting citizens in making the informed choices necessary to a democracy."