"He said city officials, including the mayor, should not be forced to make decisions “in a fishbowl.”

If Mayor Kirk Caldwell does not want to make decisions in a fishbowl, he should not have run for a public office funded by the public.  

Similarly, "city officials" need to recognize who is funding their paychecks and who they're working for. They are not working for the Mayor, they're working for the public who has the right to know.

Unfortunately, even with more open records, the public will still never get to fully know the wheeling-and-dealing with special interests/lobbying behind the memos, written records, and the public hearings.