A community whistleblower recounts the reaction to recording public meetings. In his letter, he argues that transparency should not provoke fear if the governmental body is operating above board.
Dear Editor, Being a known whistleblower is a wild experience because, apparently, sitting quietly at a public meeting with a camera now counts as an act of aggression. I walk in, take a seat, hit record, and you would think I just pulled the fire alarm. Heads start swiveling, whispers start flying, and before long someone decides the real emergency in the room is me documenting what elected officials are saying into a microphone. My personal favorite is when people start recording me while I am recording them, as if we have entered some strange standoff where the last camera standing wins. I am not sure what they think they are going to capture. A man sitting in a chair? A citizen listening? The suspense is unbearable. Then there is the dramatic parking lot energy after adjournment, when a few brave souls suddenly find the courage to confront the man with the notebook. I usually make a polite early exit because I am not interested in late-night debates next to a shopping cart corral. I am there for one reason, and it is not small talk. I am there to go straight to the source of the problem and deal with it at the head, not nibble around the edges to make everyone feel comfortable. Here is what makes it funny and telling at the same time. No one panics over a camera when everything is clean. No one cares about public records when there is nothing in them. The only time a whistleblower becomes the villain of the story is when the story has something in it worth hiding. If the strategy is to intimidate the person asking questions instead of answering them, that says more than any investigation ever could. Every time the focus shifts to me instead of the issue, it confirms I am looking in the right place. Targeting a whistleblower does not protect the public. It protects whatever cannot survive daylight. And if that is the reaction, then I will keep showing up, keep recording and keep digging. Because if a camera and a notebook shake the room that much, imagine what the truth is doing.
Alec Severins
Georgetown
Georgetown
With over 17,000 followers, Alec Severins is the founder of the Vermilion County Watchdog community Facebook page, an independent media and investigative journalism organization.
