ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED STATES HOLDING ILLEGAL SECRET COUNCIL MEETING ON AUGUST 30, 2010

ACUS Chairman PAUL VERKUIL



In 1995, Congress abolished the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), cutting off funding for fifteen years. ACUS was supposed to give objectie advice on administrative law and procedure. But since Reagan, it became an embarrassment, full of right-wing nutcases like PHYLLIS SCHLAFFLY, who knew nothing about administrative law (but got a free trip to Washington, D.C. twice annually). ACUS became informally known as the "Heritage Foundation metastasized" because it was not transparent, open or accountable, over-representing lawyers for Big Business and Big Government, and under-representing the rest of us.

Now that ACUS has been re-established, it's going back to its bad old ways of doing business -- the Council meeting on Monday, August 30, 2010 is scheduled to be a secret one. I have objected and requested that the meeting be canceled.

See below:

Re: ACUS Council Meeting Monday, August 30th Must be Cancelled or FACA Will Be Violated

Dear Paul and Richard:

The ACUS website does not announce Monday's Council meeting. This violates FACA. So does ACUS' stated intention to hold a meeting in secret.

Therefore, please cancel the ACUS Council meeting set for Monday, August 30th and reschedule it with proper Sunshine notice under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

Under the circumstances, starting the revived ACUS with an illegal meeting is no way to win friends or show that ACUS has learned from its many mistakes, 1981-1995..

Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ed Slavin



-----Original Message-----
From: easlavin@aol.com
To: BRichardson@acus.gov; pverkuil@acus.gov
Cc: csunstein@omb.eop.gov; sunshine@floridafaf.org; jim@floridafaf.org; cpr-hold@dsli.com; judgelitt@att.net; jlitt01@cfl.rr.com; mattwald@nytimes.com; EASlavin@aol.com
Sent: Fri, Aug 27, 2010 11:55 am
Subject: ACUS Council Meeting Monday, August 30th Must be Opened to Public Under FACA

Dear Bill and Paul:
In paragraph 13 of your August 26, 2010 letter, the newly-reviving Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) asserts its Council is exempt from FACA open meeting requirements. I respectfully disagree. In pertinent part, 5 U.S.C. 595(b) states:
The Council has the power to
(1) determine the time and place of plenary sessions of the Conference and the agenda for the sessions. The Council shall call at least one plenary session each year;
(2) propose bylaws and regulations, including rules of procedure and committee organization, for adoption by the Assembly;
(3) make recommendations to the Conference or its committees on a subject germane to the purpose of the Conference;
(4) receive and consider reports and recommendations of committees of the Conference and send them to members of the Conference with the views and recommendations of the Council;
(5) designate a member of the Council to preside at meetings of the Council in the absence or incapacity of the Chairman and Vice Chairman;
(6) designate such additional officers of the Conference as it considers desirable;
(7) approve or revise the budgetary proposals of the Chairman; and
(8) exercise such other powers as may be delegated to it by the Assembly.

Based on the plain meaning of the statute, I reckon that FACA applies. Thus, Monday morning's proposed secret meeting of the Council of a FACA-chartered committee is a violation of the public's Right to Know. The meeting must be open to the public. All Council meetings must be open to the public in the future.

By copy of this letter, I am reporting ACUS' planned Monday morning FACA violation to Professor Cass Sunstein and his staff at OIRA and I am requesting that OIRA instruct Chairman Verkuil on the importance of Sunshine in our government.

Upon reflection and review of the statute, I am certain that you and Chairman Verkuil agree today that the meeting on August 30, 2010 must be open to the public.

If, however, you still opine that the Administrative Conference of the United States meeting Monday should be run outside of the Sunshine, please:
(a) Cite by close of business today any legal opinions from DOJ, GSA, GAO or otherwise.
(b) State whether President Obama and Professor Cass Sunstein and his staff at OIRA are aware that the meeting on August 30, 2010 will be in secret.

For the record, I request to attend by "conference call." I believe at least one person in the Washington, D.C. area will want to attend, so please make arrangements to welcome visitors to ACUS' first meeting since 1995.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Ed
Ed Slavin
904-829-3877

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Richardson
To: easlavin@aol.com
Sent: Thu, Aug 26, 2010 4:10 pm
Subject: ACUS response to your July 29 e-mail