Not Sexy, Just Important
By Paul Jacob
Open government is not the most passionate political issue. But you can't have a free society if citizens don't control their government. And citizens can't effectively control government if they can't find out what government's up to.
Information is power. The truth shall set you free.
Of course, some folks in government don't always see it this way. Sometimes they'd like to do things their own way and not have pesky citizens butting in. We can understand, but that's why there are laws to protect citizen access to information.
Let's celebrate Linda Seiler's recent victory in Old Bridge, New Jersey. But why did she have to fight so hard to get the lousy minutes to an executive session of the Old Bridge Economic Development Corporation?
Since 2005, the Washington, DC police have lost track of 1,500 Freedom of Information Act inquiries, replying to less than one out of every seven. Certainly the police should follow the law.
I like the attitude of John Ehinger with The Huntsville Times in Alabama. He thought a recent closed meeting of the Madison City Council to discuss "economic development" was lawful. But he argued that holding the meeting in secret was still a big mistake.
"If things work out, Madison will chip in millions for a shopping center," he wrote. "Those millions will come out of the pockets of the Madison citizenry. Don't people have a right to know what something's going to cost them?"
The answer is yes.
This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.
