Washington’s open public meetings act, passed by the state Legislature in 1971, begins with a strongly worded preamble.

“The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.”

The act is buttressed by a strong public records act. Taken together, the two make Washington one of the stronger states in terms of open government; the Sunshine Review, a nonprofit dedicated to government transparency, gives the state an A for open government.

But laws, over time, can be eroded, their impact diluted, if citizens don’t remain vigilant. That’s why we’re troubled by the way Jan Milligan’s termination played out last week, when Vashon’s five elected commissioners — after a closed-door session — sought her resignation as the district’s executive director.

The Beachcomber learned last Monday night — nine days ago — that she had been let go, or so we were told by sources. When we reached Bill Ameling, the park district’s chair, late that night and shortly before our deadline, he confirmed her termination. Board members, he said, had reached “a consensus” that they “wanted her to try something different.”

“It was a deliberate action,” he said. “It wasn’t a knee-jerk action.”

But in fact, Ameling and fellow commissioner David Hackett had asked her to resign that day. And last Tuesday, after the paper had gone to press and after Milligan had declined to resign, we received a notice that a special meeting would be held the next day to “ratify recent personnel changes.” Milligan was then officially terminated, during a meeting that lasted a few minutes and that included no discussion, debate or deliberation.

It’s hard to imagine that Ameling sought her resignation last Monday without clear direction from the four members who serve with him. And that clear direction, that “consensus,” as he called it, even if it took place without a vote, is a board action behind closed doors. It’s an apparent violation of the open public meetings act.

Ameling, in today’s issue, is quoted as saying that no one except those five board members knows exactly what happened during the executive session. He’s right about that. He then says, “And what difference does it make anyway?” A lot.

In a democracy, process matters. Indeed, it’s at the heart of our system. When we elect people to serve us, we trust they’ll follow the laws, particularly in matters of governmental transparency. Particularly on Vashon.

We urge the park district commissioners to read up on the state’s open government laws. (An excellent resource is the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington, or www.mrsc.org.) And we urge them to fully embrace them, both in spirit and letter. It’s their moral, legal and democratic obligation. We expect no less of them.