Secrecy in Georgia land deals not the norm

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has a report on secret land deals in Georgia:

Elected officials in two metro Atlanta counties claim they need to vote in secret when buying land, but commissioners in several other counties say they insist on keeping the process open.

The Gwinnett County Commission has been voting on land deals in secret for 15 years, and Forsyth County's school board also routinely votes on similar issues in executive session, which are closed to the public.

Officials justify the secret votes because they say it saves taxpayers money. If a seller knows land is wanted for a school or park, the price escalates, they say.

A spokesman for state Attorney General Thurbert Baker last week called that argument "specious at best."

Baker's office has repeatedly said that secret votes violate state law, but he has not taken legal action against noncompliant agencies. "It is our office's view that votes have to be taken in public," said spokesman Russ Willard. "A policy argument is never enough to overrule the clear requirement of state law."

That's pretty interesting."Noncompliant agencies" violate the law but it's alright.If someone violates the law in the private sector does the Attorney General look the other way? You see how this all leads to eminent domain abuses.There seems to be two sets of rules for respecting private property:one for the public sector and one for the private sector.