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in the open
should be goal
The ill-fated county commissioners’ decision to award themselves health insurance for life in secrecy heightened the public’s awareness of the need for open government.
There have been some encouraging signs lately, however. Monday night, for the first time in recent months, a closed session was not on the agenda of a regularly scheduled commissioner’s meeting. The commissioners also say they will adopt a plan for releasing minutes of closed sessions and will take training on open meetings and public records.
Tuesday night, the public elected two new commissioners – Ricky Bullard and Ronald Gore. Both have pledged to help make county government more transparent. They will take office in December.
These men and other officials, including school board members, will face a myriad of issues before them. Some decisions may not be popular and some may not even be the wisest, but above all, we encourage elected officials to remember that the bedrock of democracy is open government.
When the public’s business is conducted in public and public records are readily available, elected officials can at least hold their heads high when hard decisions are made.
Government is not private enterprise; it works best when the public is given the opportunity to participate in decisions that affect their daily lives. Closed-door meetings or decisions made without input make it appear that there’s something to hide.
We hope that with the swearing in of the new boards in December, our elected officials will see that there is a great opportunity to make positive changes for open government.