As reported by the Call’s Burke Wasson, the Crestwood Board of Aldermen currently is without a president after aldermen last week deadlocked 4-4 over two candidates — Ward 3 Alderman Jerry Miguel and Ward 4 Alderman Pat Duwe.

While we know that Ward 2 Alderman Jim Kelleher made the motion to nominate Mrs. Duwe for board president and Ward 1 Alderman Richard Breeding nominated Mr. Miguel for the position, that’s all we know. While we’re certain residents will speculate how aldermen voted, no one will know for certain because as unbelievable as it might sound, the vote was done by secret ballot.

We could be mistaken, but we don’t believe this is the first time Crestwood aldermen have elected a board president by secret ballot. We’re not absolutely 100 percent certain, but aldermen may have used a secret ballot last year when former Alderman Richard LaBore and former Alderman Tim Trueblood vied for the post.

In fact, City Attorney Robert Golterman told Mr. Wasson, “I believe there was one other time that there was more than one candidate, and they did a secret ballot then.”

We certainly don’t have the legal expertise that Mr. Golterman has, but we don’t believe that having a secret ballot during a public meeting adheres to the letter of the state’s Open Meetings and Records Law, also called the Sunshine Law. We certainly don’t believe a secret ballot adheres to the spirit of the Sunshine Law, which states, “It is the public policy of this state that meetings, records, votes, actions, and deliberations of public governmental bodies be open to the public unless otherwise provided by law.”

It wasn’t always that way in Crestwood, though. In fact, Mayor Roy Robinson told Mr. Wasson, “It wasn’t secret when I was an alderman. I think people ought to come out in the open. But I think the reason they do that is that so there won’t be any hard feelings. And I see both points. To me, I think people ought to stand up to what they’re voting for, even if it’s a board president. But I also understand we don’t need people PO’d at each other because they didn’t support them or whatever.”

We can remember just a few short years ago when Crestwood was a leader in the state in terms of compliance with the Sunshine Law.

Eliminating secret ballots during public meetings would be a great step toward enhancing the city’s reputation for transparency and accountability.