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Regents face new investigation into open meetings laws

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The Board of Regents has been accused of violating the state’s open meetings law in meetings held between 2001 and 2003.

Ody J. Fish and Jay Heck asked State Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager to investigate the matter, accusing the board of illegal proceedings regarding small-group conference calls conducted before 15 of the 19 meetings held between November of 2001 and August of 2003.

In a letter sent to Lautenschlager Wednesday, Fish and Heck addressed their concerns.

“We are concerned about the fact that if half or more of the Executive Committee participated in these conference calls than the open meetings law may have been violated … We are very concerned about the integrity of the proceedings of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents and of the University of Wisconsin System — the largest public institution in the state.”

Fish and Heck, who both currently serve on the Common Cause In Wisconsin State Governing Board, previously served on the Board of Regents. During their tenures, which were among the longest in board history, both served on the Executive Committee. Neither said they recall using conference calls as a board measure.

Falling in line with the request by University of Wisconsin System President Katharine Lyall to keep the recent controversial actions of the board out of the public light, current regents have countered the allegations. They have stated that the issue does not affect the public, and that the conference calls did not deal with heavy business issues.