In my ongoing effort to be fair and balanced, I commend today’s N&R lead editorial calling for state government to quit running up debt:
The state has “substantially exhausted” its general fund debt capacity until 2011, a statement issued last week by State Treasurer Janet Cowell’s office said. And combined debt capacity for the highway fund [...]
A judge has overturned the City of Greensboro’s annexation of the unincorporated McLeansville community.
Assistant City Manager Denise Turner said “Greensboro has spent about $450,000 providing items such as new street signs and trash cans and public safety services for the subdivisions — a figure that does not include the cost to extend water and sewer [...]
The Saints’ Super Bowl victory over the Colts drew more viewers than any other TV program in history, topping the 1983 final episode of MASH.
Interesting that on such an occasion the baseball analogies start popping up. The AP blurb in today’s N&R print edition said MASH’s 105 million viewers “has proven as durable as Babe [...]
Questions Surround Guilford Strategic Plan Many questions still surround Guilford County Schools Superintendent Mo Green’s ambitious new strategic plan. One major question is exactly what the Board of Education’s role will be in implementing the plan.
Annexation Rules Could Generate Major Debates in 2009 Municipal annexation will take center stage during the General Assembly’s new session as the N.C. League of Municipalities deals with efforts to reform the state’s annexation laws put forth by property owners upset over paying city taxes for services they don’t need or want.
It's not easy being green “Green” schools appear to be a growing trend in public education nationally and in North Carolina. But school systems are quickly finding out that green schools cost quite a bit of green money.
Judge overturns McLeansville annexations GREENSBORO — Three McLeansville subdivisions are no longer part of the city, after a judge declared their 2009 annexation void. Four McLeansville residents sued Greensboro last year to stop the planned July 1 annexation. Greensboro added the land, but late last week, Judge Edwin Wilson sided with residents, who argued the city could not hold them to annexation agreements made with the subdivision developers. Wilson’s ruling means that the three subdivisions — including 151 acres and about 285 homes — will go back to being part of Guilford County.
Triad lawmakers rake in the cash RALEIGH — Greensboro-area lawmakers reported flush campaign coffers in reports filed with the State Board of Elections Friday, although at least two local incumbents will likely have to file corrections to their reports. With the three-week filing period for the 2010 elections due to open Monday, the News & Record reviewed campaign finance reports filed by local incumbents at the General Assembly. Rep. Pricey Harrison was the most prolific fundraiser among local House members in 2009.
Forsyth board won’t appeal court order WINSTON-SALEM — The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners will have a moment of silence during its Monday meeting instead of a public prayer. Judge James A. Beaty Jr. of U.S. District Court recently ruled that the county cannot allow prayers with sectarian content before meetings. Beaty said that the county could choose to have no prayer or a nonsectarian prayer instead. “I will ask for a moment of silence and then ask a member of the board of commissioners to proceed with the Pledge of Allegiance,” said Commissioner Dave Plyler, the chairman of the board.
Cost for equestrian center nearly doubles WENTWORTH — Livestock equipment broker Emery Thibodeaux is one of those horse owners you may have heard about. You know, the ones so excited about the prospects of an equestrian center in Rockingham County that they pack up their horse trailers and move here before the first 100-stall barn goes up. Thibodeaux said he bought 25 acres near Stoneville two years ago and has no regrets about his decision, even as County Manager Tom Robinson tries to close a funding gap for a project that has almost doubled in price during the past few months.
Forsyth bond vote may grow WINSTON-SALEM — Forsyth County residents may be asked later this year to support a $40 million bond issue for a new Central Library, but they may not get to use the existing library as much as they have in the past. A tight budget in 2010-11 could force the county to cut back library hours and other so-called less essential areas of county government. County officials told the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners during a planning retreat yesterday that the county is facing several tough budget years in a row in the face of stagnant revenues and state cutbacks.
Residents may give opinion on hotel deal GREENSBORO — When the Guilford County commissioners meet Thursday, will they address the hotel-sized elephant in the room? The meeting will be the commissioners’ first since controversy began around a proposed luxury hotel, the millions in federal stimulus funding it is seeking and Melvin “Skip” Alston — the board’s chairman who brokered the deal. Alston has been accused of politically threatening rival developers and members of the Greensboro City Council over the deal.
Trust But Verify: Open government is better government Executive Summary
Governments have been seeking ways to adopt or advertise their efforts at open government, sunshine, and transparency. Recent history is rife, however, with examples of how they have failed – such as Gov. Mike Easley’s financial dealings and the hole in the state health plan.
Open government helps build trust with taxpayers. Tools that improve openness with taxpayers have also helped government officials and managers better use their resources. Some state and local governments found ways to save money through improved transparency.
Financial transparency is an important step toward open government. Online budgets, contracts, salaries, and check registers make information more accessible. Corporate financial statements provide a model in clarity and accessibility. Too many government documents are not searchable in any way. When tied to outcome measures such as test scores in education, this greater accessibility can provide better insight about which government programs work and which ones do not.
Process transparency opens the closed doors elected officials try to hide behind when drafting laws. Putting bills online 72 hours before debate and voting begin, instead of in the middle of the night the day of a vote, would leave fewer surprises in legislation. Five-year fiscal projections for state and local budgets would also make clear the impacts of program changes over time, not just for the year or two a budget is in effect. Governments should also take further steps to publicize their meetings beforehand, record their proceedings, and make minutes or archived recordings available online.
Regulatory transparency means making the proceedings of non-elected bodies as open as those of the legislature, county commissions, and town councils. Proposed regulations should be easier to find and understand for those with an interest. The state auditor or an independent body should perform any audits or performance reviews. Reviews should cover not just how well an agency or program accomplishes its mission, but also whether the mission is appropriate for government.
Why Transparency Matters
Open government is needed for a healthy democracy. Yet much of how government operates is unknown. Carolina Journal first reported on Gov. Easley’s financial dealings in 2006, but it took until Bev Perdue took office and opened state police records for details to emerge.
The state spent as much as $226 million in excess cost for mental health services over three years. It took months for the costs to become large enough to gain attention and the full extent of the problem was not realized until the legislature’s Program Evaluation Division presented its findings in July 2009. The $250 million hole for 2009 in the state health plan also caught legislators by surprise.
Open government builds trust and improves government operations. It can even save money, as witnessed in Texas, where the state comptroller found $73,000 dollars in savings just through cutting the number of contracts for toner cartridges.
There are many facets of open government. The John Locke Foundation created the web site NCTransparency.com to improve online fiscal transparency, and the response from local governments has been very promising. The Greensboro News & Record complained that Guilford County commissioners work behind closed doors too much. Guilford is not alone. Few governments broadcast their meetings online or on television. Fewer still post proposed ordinances, rule changes, or even agendas online in advance of their meetings. Open contracting with competitive bidding is another essential element of open government.
Making information accessible is about more than making it available. Citizens need to be able to understand it. Elected and unelected officials need to change their approach to information. It is not simply about responding to citizen requests for information. The problem is that government documents are often difficult to understand even for those who use them on a daily basis. Is it any wonder that few citizens ask for budget information when that information comes in a form that is almost unintelligible?
Asheville, for example, has its budget available in twelve sections plus a glossary. Wake County Commissioner Stan Norwalk voted against putting information online because he worried about both the cost of putting data online and the effect on county employees who would “be bombarded with so many requests for information … that they will spend too much time dealing with frivolous inquiries.”
The answer, however, is neither to avoid making the information available nor just to put it online in any format. The answer is to present the information online in a way that can be easily understood.
The remainder of this paper will examine the three aspects of open government – fiscal transparency, process transparency, and regulatory transparency. Each section will provide examples of what transparency means in that area, steps governments are taking to become more transparent, and opportunities to improve transparency.
Why Transparency? Creating trust in government Open government is just as important in a modern republic as it was two centuries ago. Larger bureaucratic states threatened to overwhelm the ability of citizens and their representatives to keep track of government. Revelations of corrupt government officials, fraud in various programs, subsidies to chosen groups or companies, and laws written by lobbyists still surface. Fortunately, more tools are available every day to make more information available from more governments to more people.
The John Locke Foundation is taking steps to help governments become more open. Our NCTransparency.com site helps taxpayers find government information online and gives grades for a quick check of how much is available for a state agency, local government, or school district. Our latest policy report on transparency provides three areas for improved transparency and some examples of what is already available.
This guide has four sections:
How to think about transparency
How to increase financial transparency
How to expand transparency to the process of governing
Crucial Questions: A Checklist for School Board Candidates and Citizens According to the North Carolina General Statutes, school boards have three broad functions: 1) to maintain general control and supervision of all matters pertaining to the public schools, 2) to enforce and execute the school law, and 3) to ensure that the administration of schools is efficiently and more economically accomplished.
Within the scope of these broad functions, state law outlines hundreds of guidelines, recommendations, and requirements related to the work of the state’s 115 school boards. Even seasoned school board members often find the work to be laborious and complex. Unfortunately, these challenges often discourage parental involvement, as well as deter competent members of the community from pursuing a seat on a local board of education.
To simplify the process of understanding the work of school boards, the John Locke Foundation has developed a checklist for school board candidates and citizens. Checklist items are not direct quotes of state statutes, although several include key language used in them. Instead, this checklist applies existing statutes to five fundamental principles about the work conducted by local boards of education.
School board members must adhere to the powers and duties granted to local boards of education by state and federal law.
School board members must ensure that the public school system spends as much of its taxpayer dollars as possible on classroom instruction.
School board members must ensure that the public school system minimizes wasteful bureaucratic and programmatic expenditures.
School board members must work to best meet the educational needs of children, families, and communities in which they live. To this end, school board members should collaborate with charter, private, and home schools, as well as post-secondary institutions in their jurisdiction. Public school systems exist for the benefit of families; families do not exist for the benefit of school systems.
School board members must ensure that the school system is fully transparent. The school board must guarantee that the public has easily accessible, searchable, and timely information about all aspects of the operation of the school system, except those subject to confidentiality statutes.
Each question on the checklist is followed by one or more references to the applicable statute. The appendix provides a list of education resources from the John Locke Foundation Research Division.
Crucial Questions: A Checklist for City Council Candidates and Citizens City council members hold the reins of the first level of government that affects most North Carolinians. With a proper perspective on the uses and limits of government, these leaders can foster prosperity in their communities through free individuals pursuing their own dreams without fear of the city arbitrarily curtailing their activities or usurping their property or wealth.
