A More Transparent Government
01-11-2010
For far too long, government has been able to work behind closed doors, spending the people’s hard-earned money with little-to-no input from outside. In May 2005, the leadership of Mayor Davison and the Commission took transparency to the next level for Athens-Clarke County. The mayor and commission worked to see that more information from the local government was placed the county website for the public to see. This was a large step for our city, even though we see this as a common sense approach to helping connect the people with their government.
It’s time to take the same kind of progressive action we’ve seen in cities across our nation; it’s time to change the status quo and give the people a larger stake in their community. We’ve all seen elected officials promise time and again that they’ll have transparent government, but nothing ever happens. Not here. Not now. I will implement policies toward true transparency in the government of Athens-Clarke County.
I will spearhead the establishment of a public database, as part of a new county website, where all government revenues and expenditures will be available for public scrutiny, line-by-line. As well, all government contracts will be posted on the website to increase competition in the marketplace. I stand firm on the concept of transparency because of the positive effects it can have on a community. The elimination of wasteful spending provides relief to the city budget by saving money that can be put towards other projects on a refined scale of priority.
I will work hard to give you the tools you need to educate yourselves on the workings of the county government, and then I will give you the access you need to do something about it. Gone are the days of closed-door commission meetings. The only meetings that will be held behind closed doors are those on sensitive topics such as personnel. All in all, a transparent government is a better government, accountable to the people, and because of that accountability, more careful about how it uses the resources given to it by the people.
An open government saves you money, and I will work to lead the way not only for the people of Athens, but to serve as an example of what transparency can do for the people of Georgia and beyond. The other candidates are still on step one when it comes to issues like transparency reform. It makes me question their ability to lead, and you should too. To me, it seems like they are trying to run a car without wheels- now that is quite a dilemma and struggle of leadership that guarantees to move us backwards.
01-11-2010
For far too long, government has been able to work behind closed doors, spending the people’s hard-earned money with little-to-no input from outside. In May 2005, the leadership of Mayor Davison and the Commission took transparency to the next level for Athens-Clarke County. The mayor and commission worked to see that more information from the local government was placed the county website for the public to see. This was a large step for our city, even though we see this as a common sense approach to helping connect the people with their government.
It’s time to take the same kind of progressive action we’ve seen in cities across our nation; it’s time to change the status quo and give the people a larger stake in their community. We’ve all seen elected officials promise time and again that they’ll have transparent government, but nothing ever happens. Not here. Not now. I will implement policies toward true transparency in the government of Athens-Clarke County.
I will spearhead the establishment of a public database, as part of a new county website, where all government revenues and expenditures will be available for public scrutiny, line-by-line. As well, all government contracts will be posted on the website to increase competition in the marketplace. I stand firm on the concept of transparency because of the positive effects it can have on a community. The elimination of wasteful spending provides relief to the city budget by saving money that can be put towards other projects on a refined scale of priority.
I will work hard to give you the tools you need to educate yourselves on the workings of the county government, and then I will give you the access you need to do something about it. Gone are the days of closed-door commission meetings. The only meetings that will be held behind closed doors are those on sensitive topics such as personnel. All in all, a transparent government is a better government, accountable to the people, and because of that accountability, more careful about how it uses the resources given to it by the people.
An open government saves you money, and I will work to lead the way not only for the people of Athens, but to serve as an example of what transparency can do for the people of Georgia and beyond. The other candidates are still on step one when it comes to issues like transparency reform. It makes me question their ability to lead, and you should too. To me, it seems like they are trying to run a car without wheels- now that is quite a dilemma and struggle of leadership that guarantees to move us backwards.
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