Let the sunshine in
This week has been deemed Sunshine Week by journalists and open government groups who want more openness, access and freedom of information in government operations. It is an interesting coincidence that The New York Times ran a big spread Sunday on the federal government distributing "news" reports to local TV stations.
The federal government's efforts to close off access to records is well-documented. Our interest is more local. Government officials often pose our requests for documents and access as obstructionism. We're simply being "nosy;" they know what is best. Case in point: Try to get elected officials to talk specifically about incentive packages to private businesses. Won't happen. They announce a public hearing will be held, without giving the name of the company involved, and then vote on the incentives package immediately after the hearing. The reason? The company requested anonymity. The general public has so little advance notice that it hardly has time to weigh in on the merits.
Our belief is that the best government is the most open government. The more information citizens have about how their government operates and why decisions are made, the better they are able to decide if that government -- its employees and elected officials -- is serving them well.
Citizens must know if their tax money is being spent wisely and if government is dealing with the issues they want addressed. Open access is vital to good government.