In today’s troubled economic times, it’s not hard to understand the sense of nervous excitement generated by the prospect of a new business locating in the area or of an existing business expanding: jobs, tax revenue, community involvement, stability.

If there were ever any doubt, see the crushing flip side of this when, say, the paper mill in Franklin County closed down earlier this year.

FOIA includes exemptions for certain records related to business expansion, location and retention. And there is a FOIA exemption in the meetings section for discussions about potential development where no prior announcement has been made.

The exemptions exist primarily to protect the government’s bargaining position. Another primary justification for confidentiality is that a private business may be leery of working with a government entity if it thinks that its business secrets could be spread around to competitors.

When the stakes are so high, it’s easy to get caught up in the campaign to make the dream come true.

In an excellent editorial published in late April, the Daily Press criticized the Hampton City Council’s recent changes to the citizen comment period of public meetings.

The Daily Press didn’t fault the city for wanting to improve the meetings’ efficiency, or to eliminate personal attacks or the rehashing of past decisions. The newspaper’s complaint instead was this: “governing bodies that don’t engage the public during the public input parts of their meetings.”

Unfortunately, that’s not the only way in which debate is purged from public sphere.

• Through the use

Prince William County resident Mark Hjelm finally got his day in court April 14. And it was a pretty good day.

The aftermath, well, that’s not so pretty.