If you have a gripe with a local zoning board of appeals or city council but can’t make it to its meeting, you often can read about it the next day in the newspaper, see it on the TV or hear about it on the radio.

You can thank Michigan’s Sunshine Laws for that.

This week is the annual Sunshine Week, which celebrates the importance of open government and freedom of information.

The Open Meetings Act requires that when a quorum is present at a meeting of a public body, the meeting has to be open to the public, with exceptions made in certain circumstances for a closed meeting.

That is essential to governmental transparency. When people can see firsthand how a unit of government conducts business, democracy is better served. They can see its strengths and weaknesses, listen to lively discussions and discover how ordinances and other actions come about.

The Michigan Freedom of Information Act is another bit of legislation that, according to the Legislature’s guideline publication, establishes procedures to “ensure every citizen’s right of access to government documents.”

FOIA also gives the public the right to inspect and receive copies of records of local and state governmental bodies. In fact, it’s another way to give people a better idea of how the processes elected and non-elected officials use to make public decisions.

If citizen requests a public record under FOIA, the government agency must respond within five days. It may charge fees only related to mailing and clerical costs. If the agency violates this request, the agency may be fined $500.

The Florida Society of Newspaper Editors launched Sunshine Sunday in 2002 in response to efforts by some Florida legislators to create new exemptions to the state’s public records law. In the legislative sessions that followed its three Sunshine Sundays, FSNE estimated about 300 exemptions were defeated because of the public awareness that was created through those Sundays.

The American Society of News Editors launched Sunshine Week in March 2005. The initiative is celebrated in mid-March annually to coincide with James Madison’s birthday on March 16.

The ability of The Mining Journal – and all media – is strengthened by access to open government, not the cloud of secrecy. So, we believe the sun should keep shining, and not just for a single week but 365 days a year.