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Disclosure is key to good government

August 22, 2010 at 2:15 am Leave a comment

This comment  posted in the Letters section in the London Free Press, on August 9, 2010, with the headline “Closed Door Sessions”, [read here below]

Western Fair

closed door sessions

If the Western Fair Association has to disclose how it voted – how about our elected Parliamentary officials. I guess I now have the right to ask our Provincial Premier just who his financial advisers were and which ones voted for the HST. I should also be able to demand who voted for any increased admission charges for all the local soccer clubs that use public fields to play on. All fee changes at all our hospitals should be public knowledge of how each board member voted. You can add London Airport, the JLC, and Story Book Gardens etc. I want to know who on the University Board voted for the last salary increase of Andrew Sancton and what it actually is because the University also gets a tax break from the city. The problem with a witch hunt is where do you draw the line?

Posted By: R Clark, Delaware
Posted On: August 9, 2010]

is a letter that derides a London Free Press reporter’s efforts seeking disclosure of  Public Officials’ voting records.

The letter writer here seems to dismiss an essential point:  that accountability and good government is facilitated by open-access reporting and public oversight of ALL public tax-payer-funded entities; and ignores the fact that the Public’s “right-know” is an undeniable necessity for having an informed electorate appraise and judge the worthiness of Public Official’s service that is provided in the name of the community, and funded by the Public.

Yes, this means access to Official’s full voting records, complete meeting minutes, financial records of spending and allocation of funds, full review of Official’s correspondence pertaining to Official business and related side-deals and personal interests and consultation lobbying, all to thereby enable the public to review all consequential issues arising from possible slanted bidding processes, suspect contracts. and embarrassing court proceedings.

Such lines of inquiry and levels of public information disclosure, (and much, much, more) is available to many US residents and journalists in a number of States that have enacted explicit “Sunshine Laws” or in other words have enshrined  extensive privileges to the Public so that the inquiring Public may know what is being spent, collected, decided, punished, revoked or otherwise enacted in its name behind in what was government’s once previously ” closed-door sessions.”

Entry filed under: Journalism, London Free Press, London Ontario, News & Views, Western Fair.