Sunshine would prevent more Bells

Bell is one of the poorest cities in Los Angeles County, pays its top officials some of the highest salaries in the nation, including nearly $800,000 annually to the city manager. When citizens do not have the information necessary to hold officials accountable, abuse of power and misconduct in office are almost certain results. Hence, it should come as no surprise that Bell’s government also fails the most basic standards of government transparency

And like Bell, the vast majority of state and local governments also fail to meet the most basic standards for government transparency. That fact alone virtually guarantees that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of officials across America are today wasting taxpayer money by the fistfuls on astronomical salaries, sweetheart contracts and payrolls bloated by cronyism, breathtaking malfeasance, stupidity and criminality…

Read the full article.

Free speech regulation masquerading as ‘transparency’

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, have introduced legislation to gut the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision protecting the free speech rights of citizens when organized into groups such as labor unions, corporations and trade associations.

Beyond the reporting of group expenditures, the Schumer and Van Hollen bills, if enacted, would require the speech-chilling disclosure of individual contributors.

On May 10, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board ruled that tribes, corporations and other groups must report spending on political advertising. In so doing, the board staff lamented that current Wisconsin law is insufficient to force the likewise speech-chilling public disclosure of the identities of those who simply exercise their free speech rights by contributing lawfully to legitimate organizations.

The Washington Post recently published an article citing “transparency” as justification for effectively regulating Twitter content. The article, “Undercover persuasion by tech industry lobbyists,” fingers lobbyists who “tweet” under their names (gasp!) without a legal disclaimer or link to their most recent lobby disclosure forms.

Every effort to erode liberty and free speech always is disturbing. What is truly alarming about these recent examples is how new and proposed violations of individual rights are lathered in transparency rhetoric. As an advocate of real transparency, I’m concerned that such a masquerade impedes both free speech and transparency.

Transparency is not a duty of private citizens to one another, nor is it a regulatory standard that must be met before free speech is deemed permissible. And, transparency is not a set of hurdles to be cleared before a citizen is allowed admission into the public square.

Transparency is the affirmative duty of government to disclose information to citizens. Transparency guarantees access to information that empowers every citizen to hold government officials accountable for the conduct of the public’s business and the spending of taxpayers’ money. Official accountability to citizens is the great positive—the cornerstone of self-government and liberty.

Without transparency, government cannot be held accountable. And, without accountability, there is no self-government. Without accountability, government of the people is government over the people.

The opportunities for government transparency have never been greater. The Internet allows direct, low cost access to virtually unlimited quantities of documents and data, while an array of telecommunications devices can instantly transmit information to millions of citizens simultaneously.

But for all the power of these technologies, government cannot be fully transparent—and thus held accountable—unless disclosure is de rigueur.

Unfortunately, it seems the impulse to regulate has likewise never been greater. Proposals that further expand regulation and censorship are dangerous to both government transparency and free speech.
John Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation, a group we at Sunshine Review admire, was quoted in the Post article as saying that the network of social media is something of a “Wild West.” Frankly, that’s a good thing. It means that a vibrant and prolific public dialogue is occurring—a necessity for a healthy republic. The more people express ideas, the better.
If there is an issue with anonymous blogs or tweets, the problem is self-correcting. Free debate is far superior to government regulation in exposing bad actors.

Since 2008, Sunshine Review has analyzed more than 5,000 state and local government websites assessing their transparency on a 10-point scale. In March, Sunshine Review recognized each website scoring a 9 or 10. We were only able to identify 39 winners, including Wisconsin, from the more than 5,000 websites.

Clearly, government at every level has a long way to go to meet its transparency obligations to citizens. The body politic would benefit greatly if government would focus on meeting its disclosure obligations to citizens instead of looking for new ways to regulate individual speech.

Michael Barnhart is president of Sunshine Review (www.sunshinereview.org).

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/OpEd-Contributor/Michael-Barnhart-Free-speech-regulation-masquerading-as-transparency-94463734.html#ixzz0obkXVI00

State, local officials should embrace transparency

This week marks “Sunshine Week,” highlighting the importance of transparency and freedom of information.

Government transparency matters because it guarantees access to information that empowers every citizen to hold government officials accountable for the conduct of the public’s business and the spending of taxpayers’ money. Official accountability to the citizen is the cornerstone of self-government and liberty.

Without transparency, there can be no accountability. And, without accountability, there is no self-government, and “government of the people” becomes government over the people.

Opportunities for government transparency have never been greater. The Internet allows direct, low-cost access to virtually unlimited quantities of documents and data, while an array of telecommunications devices can instantly transmit information to millions of citizens simultaneously.

But for all the power of these technologies, the vast majority of state and local governments fail miserably at transparency.
On March 9, Sunshine Review announced the recipients of the “Sunny Award” to state and local government Web sites scoring a nine or 10 on a 10-point transparency checklist of information about taxes, budgets, contracts, audits, permits and officials’ contact information.

Since its inception in 2008, Sunshine Review has analyzed the Web sites of all 50 states, more than 3,140 counties, 805 cities and 1,560 school districts.

While we applaud the recipients, we hasten to point out the truly stunning truth that we were only able to recognize 39 out of more than 5,000 Web sites Sunshine Review analyzed. Less than 1 percent of state and local government Web sites fully share the information that should be available to every citizen, every taxpayer.

Freedom of Information Act laws do facilitate a degree of citizen scrutiny. But government agencies easily exploit a variety of FOIA loopholes, and even the savviest citizens can be stymied by the convoluted requirements.

The old bureaucratic dodges that transparency is too expensive, too time-consuming, too taxing of government copy machines just don’t hold up in the age of the Internet and social networking.

State and local governments today face unprecedented fiscal challenges and unprecedented opportunities for fundamental reforms. In the coming weeks and months, citizens can forge truly historic change in state and local government by reforming the budget process, privatizing services, and returning professional full-time legislatures and councils to more traditional part-time bodies, among many other worthy initiatives.

Citizen engagement is crucial. Success depends on transparency, accountability and the ability of informed citizens to secure the information they need to participate in reform and hold elected officials accountable.

Long before Google searches, the Founders crafted the Bill of Rights precisely because freedom of information and an informed, engaged citizenry are essential to our form of government.

State and local officials owe their constituents transparency. It’s time to embrace open government fully.

Originally posted at the Washington Examiner

Poll Says Local Officials Interested In Transparency

A recent survey of National League of Cities (NLC) and Public Technology Institute (PTI) members discovered that using technology to promote municipal government transparency is a leading interest to local officials. According to the NLC, members highlighted five subjects elected officials need more information about:

• Technologies that promote transparency;
• Technology tools and practices that improve government performance
(internal) and service delivery (external);
• Web 2.0/Gov 2.0 and social media to engage the public;
• Technology and telecommunications practices to enhance economic development efforts; and
• New and emerging technology trends and issues.

The opportunities for transparency at the state and local levels have never been greater. The Internet allows direct, low cost access to virtually unlimited quantities of documents and data, while an array of telecommunications devices can instantly transmit information to millions of citizens simultaneously. But for all the power of these technologies, government cannot be fully transparent—and thus accountable—unless disclosure is de rigueur.

Members of the NLC deserve praise for their interest in transparency. But a number of states, counties, cities and school districts come up short in providing an appropriate level of transparency. For example, California’s budget site does not disclose line item expenditures, grants, state contracts, or employee compensation data. Massachusetts has no online database of state spending. New York posts its financial reports online, but in a PDF format that is not searchable.

A useful method of evaluating municipal, state and local government Web sites, a 10-point “Transparency Checklist,” has been developed by Sunshine Review (www.SunshineReview.org).

Sunshine Review is committed to promoting state and local government transparency. In 2008, Sunshine Review launched a wiki platform for measuring government Web content against what should be available. To date, Sunshine Review has evaluated the web content of all 50 states, 3140 counties 805 cities 1560 school districts.

Citizens, public officials and activists may review all evaluations by visiting the Sunshine Review site. Officials interested in improving their government website may contact a Sunshine Review Editor; Kristinpedia@sunshinereview.org.

To learn more about NLC’s Center for Research and Innovation’s work on technology issues, contact Julia Pulidindi at pulidindi@nlc.org.

To learn more about the Public Technology Institute, contact Dale Bowen, assistant executive director for program development, at dbowen@pti.org.

Transparency Key to Fixing State Budget Crises

Millions of average Americans made history in 2009 by launching a non-partisan burst of activism demanding more accountability from Washington and more transparency about Wall Street bailouts, stimulus spending and health care reform. In 2010 and beyond, that same energy is urgently needed closer to home.

State and local governments across America are broke. At least 10 states, including California, Florida, New Jersey Michigan, Arizona and Illinois, face bankruptcy, according to a recent study by the Pew Center for the States. New York, Georgia and Colorado are also in the race to the bottom. In total, states in imminent danger of going belly up account for one third of the U.S. population and economic output.

The weight of collapsing real estate values, joblessness and vanishing real wealth that crushed American families last year now buckle the fiscal structures of state and local governments. Costs spiral up as revenues spiral down. Observers are calling this crisis point “the cliff.”

At “the cliff,” however, there is hope for change.

Reform is needed now, state by state and community by community, to fundamentally transform how taxes are raised and spent and to reduce the costs, structure and scope of government. Jobs, quality public schools, police and fire protection, roads and streetlights, trash collection, health and safety regulation can be preserved without massive tax increases, if, and only if, an informed and energized group of citizen engages.

Without citizen scrutiny and action, officials may resort to budgetary tricks and tax hikes that will only exacerbate the fiscal problems. According to the General Accountability Office, many state and local governments are stalling reform–using federal stimulus money to temporarily plug holes in operating budgets. According to the Wall Street Journal, some states, including California and New York are formulating schemes to sell debt to foreign investors.

Just as citizens marched for transparency and accountability in Washington, they must also now demand ready access to state and local government budgets, regulations, contracts, and contacts. The quest for information too often requires overly complex open-records requests and the time and savvy to navigate a bureaucratic maze. But absent transparency, there is far greater risk of continued failure, corruption, fraud, waste and regulatory abuse.

The Sunshine Review (www.sunshinereview.org) developed a Transparency Checklist to evaluate and score the Web sites of every city, county, school district, and state agency in all 50 states. The Transparency Checklist measures what content is available on government Web sites against what should be provided. The evaluations produce credible data easily accessible to citizens, journalists and activists.

The old bureaucratic dodges that transparency is too expensive, too time consuming, too taxing of government copy machines just don’t hold up in the age of the Internet and social networking.

Long before Google searches, the Founders crafted the Bill of Rights precisely because freedom of information and an informed, engaged citizenry is essential to self government. In the coming weeks and months, citizens can forge truly historic change in state and local government by; reforming the budget process, privatizing services, returning professional full time legislatures and councils to more traditional part time bodies, among many other worthy initiatives.

Citizen engagement is crucial. Success depends on transparency, accountability and the ability of informed citizens to secure the information they need to participate in reform and hold elected officials accountable.

Let the “Sunshine” In…Why Transparency Matters

Some argue for more “Sunshine” in government as if transparency is a positive onto itself. It is not. Transparency matters because it guarantees access to information that empowers every citizen to hold government officials accountable for the conduct of the publics’ business and the spending of taxpayers’ money. Official accountability to the citizen is the great positive; the corner stone of self government and liberty.

Sunshine matters because without transparency there can be no accountability. And, without accountability, there is no self government. Without accountability, government of the people is government over the people.

The opportunities for government transparency have never been greater. The Internet allows direct, low cost access to virtually unlimited quantities of documents and data, while an array of telecommunications devices can instantly transmit information to millions of citizens simultaneously. But for all the power of these technologies, government cannot be fully transparent—and thus accountable—unless disclosure is de rigueur.

Freedom of Information Act laws do facilitate a degree of citizen scrutiny. But government agencies easily exploit a variety of FOIA loopholes, and even the savviest citizens can be stymied by the convoluted requirements. Thus, government at every level must be forced to provide citizens ready access to all budgets, contracts, audits, permits, meeting minutes and the like. It is entirely reasonable to expect that such “affirmative disclosure” should be no less stringent than the multifarious disclosure demands government imposes on taxpayers.

Many states, counties, cities and school districts come up short in providing an appropriate level of transparency. For example, California’s budget site does not disclose line item expenditures, grants, state contracts, or employee compensation data. Massachusetts has no online database of state spending. New York posts its financial reports online, but in a PDF format that is not searchable.

A useful method of evaluating government Web sites—a 10-point “Transparency Checklist” —has been developed by Sunshine Review, a wiki platform for measuring government Web content against what should be available. As noted on the Sunshine Review Web site (www.SunshineReview.org), “We shouldn’t have to ask the government for permission to be an informed citizen.”

Michael Barnhart, Sunshine Review
mbarnhart@sunshinereview.org