Sometimes that sunny porch looks too good. We watchdogs climb up, yawn, scratch ourselves and fall asleep.

        Bad idea.

        This year, reporters and most citizens stayed home while the entire Covington Commission and the directors of every city department met in Lexington for two days of discussion about the year ahead.

        And what did city leaders decide?

        Who knows? No notes were taken for the public record, because the city clerk wasn't there. Thanks to investigation by commission candidate Howard Hodge,we do know the retreat at the Hilton Suites cost taxpayers about $5,000.

        This is embarrassing. For 16 years, the commission has been meeting in Lexington yearly, expecting citizens to drive 90 miles to participate in their own democracy. Yet no one challenged the practice until Mr. Hodge, the city's former housing director, filed a complaint with the Kentucky Attorney General's Office.

        “If the working press feels (the retreat) is inconvenient, how does the average citizen feel?” he asks.
       

Open, but illegal

        No votes are taken at the retreats, which are announced to the media and open to anyone.

        Still, the Attorney General's Office sided with Mr. Hodge: City commissions can't leave their city limits to discuss public business, because such meetings are inconvenient to citizens. Covington also broke the law by failing to take minutes, the attorney general found.

        The city might appeal the decision, which otherwise has the force of law.

        Commissioners spend at least 17 hours discussing the budget, setting priorities and meeting with department directors during their annual weekend gathering, Mayor Butch Callery says. Once, the retreat was attempted in Kenton County, but people kept getting distracted by urgent phone calls, and two commissioners left.

        Clearly, it's important for people to stay focused, but that's no excuse to get out of Dodge. Has the mayor forgotten his criticism of the Sanitation District's decision to hold rate-hike hearings in Campbell County? That was 15 minutes away, but the district ended up providing bus transportation so Covington citizens could attend.

        Officials make better decisions with public input. Getaway retreats prevent that input from being delivered. Then, at local meetings, commissioners have little to discuss, because they've already reached a consensus.

        At this year's retreat, for instance, the commission informally agreed to seek bids for a redevelopment plan for 12th Street. City Manager Greg Jarvis then issued the request for proposals. He'll soon be recommending to the commission which bid to accept — the first time this subject will be addressed at a public meeting in Covington.

        Shouldn't people have known about this earlier? I asked.

        “If we had reporters (at the retreat), they would have known,” Mr. Jarvis says.

        Touche.

        As I said, the watchdogs fell asleep. But city officials can't claim meetings are public just because they invited a few journalists, who decided not to come. The public deserves open government even when the dogs are dozing.

       Karen Samples can be reached at (859) 578-5584 or at ksamples@enquirer.com.
       

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