A person who wants to film a public meeting has the same right as a person who sits and takes notes, according to the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.
ASUNM President and SFRB Chair Laz Cardenas called authorities to remove a video camera at Saturday’s SFRB hearings. GPSA President Lissa Knudsen said the board had to allow video recording because of the Open Meetings Act. Officers determined they could not legally remove the camera.
NMFOG Executive Director Sarah Welsh said since the meeting was open to the public, a camera should have been allowed.
“If people from the public are coming in sitting and watching, taking notes, what’s the difference between taping and taking notes?” she said.
The SFRB voted Saturday evening to halt all deliberations until University Counsel investigates whether the board has to allow its meetings to be video recorded. ASUNM then issued a statement Sunday evening announcing it would submit its own student fee recommendations separate from the SFRB. Cardenas said in the Saturday statement he wanted to postpone the deliberations “due to the board’s concern of potentially violating privacy rights of individuals and organizations.”
The Student Fee Review Board guidelines in the UNM Policy and Procedures Manual make no mention of the Open Meetings Act, since organizations must voluntarily adopt it. However, Welsh said that since the board hosted the meeting for the public in a public building during regular hours, attendees are allowed to film. “As long as they don’t disrupt the meeting, standing in the back filming is the same as sitting there,” she said. “If it’s during regular (SUB) hours and you have a right to be just there as a person, they can’t kick you out.”
