Arizona Interfaith Network

Church leaders barred from GOP meeting

Tuesday, 27 January 2009 22:49 Dennis Welch

Church leaders barred from GOP meeting A group of church leaders were kicked out of a public meeting Tuesday because a high-ranking Republican decided there wasn't enough room for them.

Leaders from religious organizations representing churches from across the state wanted to attend the Republican caucus on the second floor of the Senate but were told there wasn't enough space.

Their ouster is in keeping with Republican Sen. Pamela Gorman's new way of running things in the Senate that includes limiting the number of the people who can attend the caucus.

The caucus meeting is supposed to be open to the public under Senate rules. But since Gorman, the majority whip, took charge, only those able to grab one of the few available seats are allowed to sit through the entire meeting. Several members of the press have been allowed to lean against the wall, but Gorman's rules have effectively banned standing in the room, blocking the doorway or listening in from the hallway.

Although about a dozen church leaders were asked to leave, Gorman maintains the caucus meetings are open to the public and do not violate the Senate rules modeled after the state's open meetings laws.

The normally cramped gatherings get too loud and can be distracting, Gorman said, in defending her decision to shake up the way caucuses have traditionally been run. Numerous lobbyists and state workers attend the meetings because they are not broadcast on closed-circuit television like almost all other public gatherings in the Senate.

When asked why she hasn't considered moving into a larger hearing room that could accommodate more people and have broadcasting capabilities, Gorman said she likes holding the meetings in a smaller space and around a table where lawmakers can "look each other in the eyes."

"When you're in one of the other rooms," she said, "you're less likely to treat other lawmakers with respect."

But the church leaders who tried to attend the caucus on Tuesday accused Gorman of deliberately trying to conduct the meetings outside of public inspection.

"We wanted to listen in on the discussion and hear what's going to happen to the budget," said Mike Wilkey, who represents the Prescott-based Northern Interfaith Network. "We have a right be part of the democratic process."

Wilkey said Gorman ordered senate security to escort him and another member of his organization out of the meeting and into the hallway. Once they were outside, senate staff members shut the door so they couldn't listen from outside.

Besides his group, representatives with the Arizona Interfaith Network and the Valley Interfaith Project were turned away by Senate security.

The religious organizations came to the Legislature to gather information about the state's budget problems so they could report what they learned to members of their various churches throughout Arizona.