When researching the history behind the current controversy over water between Lexington and West Columbia, I was struck by what was not in the record more than by what the record contained.

In looking over minutes of county and town meetings from 10 years ago, one finds large gaps in the record. At times there is just an allusion to the matter having been discussed in executive session, and at other times we are just left to wonder what actually happened.

The minutes themselves are very accessible, and the administrative staff both at Lexington Town Hall and Lexington County Council offices are more than helpful. New technology is also being implemented with the keeping of minutes, and that should make research even easier.

But of course one still will be unable to see what is not there in the first place.

This underscores the need for openness in government, and for meetings to be as open as possible.

In the current water controversy, what happened 10 years ago is very important. There may be matters going on today that do not seem all that important, but 10 years from now it may be the heart of an important matter, such as a legal defense in a lawsuit.

Matters discussed in executive session are not part of the minutes, and they should not be. However, without openness it becomes difficult to get a clear picture of what happened in the past.

We have chastised at least one local government body recently in this paper for not being open, and they have shown some improvement in recent weeks.

From the record we can see that the councils of 10 to 15 years ago were not as open as councils are today.

It is true that the local bodies have been open about the water controversy. Some of the elected officials have even tried to score points in the debate with their remarks to media.

It is fine for an elected official to try to use and manipulate the media to get his point across. It is the media’s job to deal with those situations and to not let itself be just a mouthpiece for a politician.

But we hope local governmental bodies will have the foresight to keep meetings open as possible, and keep executive session to a minimum, so that history can be recorded. It is not just for the media that there should be openness in government. The public and those who will come later may need to know exactly what happened in a previous meeting.