"The three principles of transparency, participation and collaboration form the cornerstone of an open government. Transparency promotes accountability by providing the public with information about what the Government is doing. Participation allows members of the public to contribute ideas and expertise so that their government can make policies with the benefit of information that is widely dispersed in society. Collaboration improves the effectiveness of Government by encouraging partnerships and cooperation within the federal government, across levels of government, and between the government and private institutions."
The Open Government Directive (OGD) puts forward a schedule for agencies to accomplish a number of tasks to make government more transparent and open.
The Directive was introduced to the public today in an 11 a.m. Webcast http://www.whitehouse.gov/live featuring the Federal Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra and the Federal Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra.
Link to OGD Memorandum: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20091208/m10-06.pdf
For details on the Open Government Directive visit http://www.nsarchive.org/.
For commentary from the Archive, see The Unredacted Blog http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/.
... meanwhile, back at the ranch ...
ReplyDeleteBellingham citizens are illegally refused access to members of City Council based on bad advice from the city attorney. Apparently the city attorney's knowledge on ex parte communications does not include case law.
Elisabeth, based on your experience, short of suing the city to gain access to elected representatives, what other recourse do citizens have?
I have two resources that I use:
ReplyDeleteWashington Coalition for Open Government: http://www.washingtoncog.org/
And, Tim Ford, Open Government Ombudsman, at the AGO's office.
http://www.atg.wa.gov/OpenGovernment/Ombudsman.aspx
The Ombudsman assists citizens and agencies with Public Records Act and Open Public Meetings Act compliance. Here are some common examples of what the Ombudsman does:
A citizen emails a question to the Ombudsman and whether an agency’s response (or lack of a response) violates the Public Records Act. If the Ombudsman has enough information in the email (a copy of the request and the agency’s response), he might provide a short analysis of the law and apply it to the facts presented by the citizen.
A state or local agency calls the Ombudsman to ask if its approach to providing public records is correct or not. The Ombudsman might agree with the agency or suggest an alternate approach.
A citizen or agency asks the Ombudsman if an agency meeting must be open to the public. The Ombudsman would analyze the issue and provide an informal opinion by phone, email, or sometimes by letter.
Thanks Elisabeth. I'll contact both of your sources.
ReplyDeleteReally appreciate it!
Open records are good.
ReplyDeleteHere is a record of a Bellingham Official.
Works 28 hours per week and takes home full salary of 121,000 per year..
http://www.98225questions.blogspot.com
Speaking of coverage of open government:
ReplyDeleteQ: What is the difference between local Bellingham political reporters and a full box of Grape Nuts?
A. One has tiny, dried up balls of dubious content, unused yet crunchy and untouched.
The other is a box of breakfast cereal.
:)