At the Central Midlands Council of Governments meeting last week a former Lexington County Council member praised both the town of Lexington and Carolina Water for “keeping the issue out of the news media.’’

The issue being the controversy between Lexington and Carolina Water. The issue itself has been in negotiation for several months, and the council of governments gave yet another extension at their meeting.

Though the issue is very complex and involve many agencies, the bottom line is the two parties do not agree on the cost of hooking that small utility into Lexington’s sewer system.

The thought that gave me pause was the idea of “keeping it out of the media.’’

No doubt the former officeholder had a lofty goal in mind, such as the parties negotiating in good faith without having a war of words being exchanged in the news media.

However, it does point to a dangerous attitude that exists in some governmental circles.

Many public officials want to get the situation worked out and then let the news media (the public) have the information. This way they can hide their dirty politics and back room deals that are made. Often these deals do resolve the issue, but they also benefit some special interest group or politician at the expense of the public.

This is a major reason that people’s faith in government has dwindled in recent years.

A couple of weeks ago a hearing was held by the Department of Health and Environmental Control to get public input on whether it should give Carolina Water Utilities another permit to keep operating.

Though it was intended to be a public hearing, it turned out to be a chance for Carolina Water to make its case to DHEC and the public. There was information presented at the meeting that was less than completely accurate.

The people there had very little information from which to make informed comments, and despite words to the contrary from DHEC, the hearing was not very beneficial.

The people at the meeting did not know any specifics of the issue, so it was easy for the spin doctors to create whatever kind of picture they liked. A well informed public would have seen the inaccuracies, and would have understood the information being presented.

“Keeping it out of the news media’’ may sound like a good idea, but there is a deep and dark downside to such a mentality.

If people do not have access to factual information, it is very easy for skilled speakers and politicians to twist the facts to fit their cause. They do not even have to lie, they can just present the part of the truth that best fits their case.

Part of the job of the news media is to see through the spin doctors’ smokescreen and present the truth as well as it can be determined.

Both Carolina Water and Lexington have been fairly open in presenting their sides to the news media. Some Lexington council members are a little hesitant to speak on the issue, but information is still obtainable.

But for a former politician to praise them for “keeping it out of the news media,’’ must mean there is more information than what has been presented so far.

A big part of the issue is a regionalized sewer system, which Lexington is creating.

This is part of a larger plan to eventually have a county wide water and sewer system.

The county has a water and sewer commission whose job is to promote this countywide system.

A countywide system would provide better service and lower rates for everyone. They may be doing a fine job of bringing this about, but no one knows too much about what they do.

They do have a meeting once a month that is allegedly open to the public. However, each meeting consists of a couple of hours of executive session that the public is not allowed to hear. This is usually followed by a 10 to 15 minute public session where no information is given.

They are doing an excellent job of “keeping it out of the news media.’’

This keeps the public in the dark about water and sewer issues in the county.

It is true that some media outlets sensationalize the news, and try to make their friends look good. But most news media outlets are fair in their coverage and do try to present the truth.

Parties may be praised for “keeping it out of the news media,’’ but that is just another way of saying “lets don’t let the public know what we are doing.’’