Your article "University System of Maryland chancellor awarded bonus and raise in closed meeting" (June 15) reported that in 2013 the Open Meetings Compliance Board found that the UM Board of Regents violated the Open Meetings Act when it met in closed session to discuss UM's move from the Atlantic Coast Conference to the Big Ten Conference.
The judgment came as a result of a complaint that I filed against the University of Maryland Board of Regents.
The Open Meetings Law is a joke because the Open Meetings Compliance Board has no way to punish government agencies that violate the law. That's why I'm not going to waste my time and file another complaint with the Compliance Board regarding its decision regarding UM Chancellor Robert Caret's bonus.
However, your readers should know that this recent violation of the Open Meetings Act represents another example of the phony politicians in the Maryland legislature and the governors who continue to snooker constituents by making them believe they support open government, when in reality that's the farthest thing from the truth. The reality is all these good folks care about is maintaining their power as career politicians.
What makes the situation more disgusting is the part that the part the state attorney general's office plays in the scenario. One segment of the department is supposed to advise the Board of Regents on the legality of conducting closed sessions while another sector of the office, the Compliance Board, is supposed to enforce violations of the law. Apparently the office's left hand does not know what its right hand is doing.
In some ways the desire for open government is laughable, but in other ways it's really sad. The ones who suffer are the voters of the state of Maryland.
Ralph Jaffe, Baltimore