Transparency in government - another step locally
Openness and Transparency in Government seems to be an ongoing theme here at the 'Grok lately. Doug and Tom are active in the trenches in trying to get the Belknap County Commission to supply information under Right To Know requests, as none of it is otherwise available. As I showed here, it does not take a lot of effort to put some of that online.
As a review, the Gilford Town Republican Committee requested the Gilford Selectboard that more information should be out on the website ( see here and here and for which I have been advocating for a couple of years now). Well, at the latest Selectboard meeting, I was able to formally ask to be put onto their Agenda for their next meeting.
In today's Citizen (one of the local papers), I was pleasantly surprised that there was a follow on story to that meeting (emphasis mine):
Gilford GOP wants more info online
By CUTTER MITCHELL
The Gilford Republican Committee has taken one of the founding principles of the Republican Party to heart, seeking to have basic public information more accessible.
The group has sent letters to the Gilford Board of Selectmen and the Gilford School Board, along with Belknap County officials, formally requesting the information to be made public via the Internet.
"We decided if we really do embrace a transparent government, we should ask for something to be done," explained Gilford GOP Chair Skip Murphy.
The initiative started with a visit to a website called SunshineReview.org. The website is maintained by a group called the Sam Adams Alliance whose mission is to advocate for a more transparent government across the country at every level.
To help other citizens interested in advocating along the group's mission line, the SunshineReview has provided a 10-checkpoint list of items that could be placed on a governmental website. There also is a checklist for citizens to fill out to rate their state, town, school, or county government.
Note: I have done so for the Gilford Town website and for the local (SAU #73) School District's website that serves Gilford and Gilmanton (NH). Evaluating the Belknap County website will probably be done real soon.
[snip]
"There is a lot that could be done with the websites that would save citizens and government employees both time and money," said Gilford Republican Doug Lambert. "The technology is there, so the bigger question in all this is, 'Why not?'"
For Lambert and many behind the request, the most important piece of information to get on the websites are financial data.
The opening statement of the request that went to the three governmental bodies was, "taxpayers are often forced to wait for an audit to know how much money was spent and whether it's all accounted for. The first step to transparency is simply posting the town or agency's check register online. Right away, any taxpayer can look and see every dollar spent and to whom it was paid."
[snip]
"Many eyes looking over the shoulder of government is better than a few," said Lambert.
[snip]
Murphy said that what the Gilford Republicans are asking for is to have the current budget, meeting minutes, meeting agendas, information about elected officials, information about the administration, information about town-funded lobbyists, vendor contracts, checkbook registers, and election information made available on the respective websites. Even better would be to allow for record requests to be fulfilled online.
All of those requests are derived from the suggestions on the SunshireReview website.
[snip]
Running through the Sunshine checklist, Gilford meets only two of the 10 criteria, according to Murphy.
"When you put that stuff out there, you make government transparent. Then everyone can see what is going on in their government," said Murphy.
Murphy will make a presentation to the Board of Selectmen concerning the Gilford Republicans' request at the selectmen's next meeting, scheduled Wednesday, May 14, at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall.
For more information, visit www.gilfordgop.org or sunshinereview.org.
