ISSUE: City Communications

This is the second of my communications responding to the questions posed to candidates by Editor Allen Johnson of the News & Record. This one is about City communication with citizens.

Mr. Johnson specifically asked about Greensboro’s communication as it related to the Urban Loop (and I will address that); but the issue of communication with citizens goes much deeper than just the Urban Loop.

“Open government is good government.” “Sunshine improves government.” “It’s the public’s business.” These are quotes or paraphrases that state what is intuitively obvious about any democratically elected governing body. Elected officials are the representatives of the People. Government employees are employed by the People. Both groups are performing the People’s business, on the People’s behalf. They are accountable to the People for their actions. They must keep the People informed about what is going on.

Information that is known to elected officials or government employees should be widely disseminated on a timely basis. The government should not wait until items have been voted on in final form to disclose them to the public. Recommendations, agenda items, proposals and plans should all be disclosed as soon as they are put forward. Disclosure can be accomplished by holding press conferences or briefings, issuing formal published reports, establishing and posting on web sites, using Blogs, FaceBook, Twitter, etc. Such disclosures allow citizens to express opposition or support, offer alternatives, decide to support different candidates, or take personal actions, based on the disclosed information.

Information collected by the government that is not made available to the public should be severely restricted. Certain personnel matters, certain aspects of active criminal prosecutions and active contract negotiations are examples of these. Everything else should be made public, so that individuals can act in their own best interest and assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the operation of the government.

I believe that the City of Greensboro is doing a better job of providing citizens with access to government information today, but this has not always been so. The Urban Loop project is a terrible example of the City’s failure to inform its citizens fully (and also its own boards) of the projected course of the highway. Property was rezoned and people bought residences in the path of the road, because the planned location of the road was not adequately disclosed. This should not have happened. Thankfully, the City has now placed a map of the project on its web site and set up a device to allow individuals to determine the distance from their property to the roadway. This should have been done long ago.

I pledge that, if I am elected to City Council, I will demand that all public information be disclosed in its entirety, and on a timely basis. If the appropriate parties do not disclose it, I will disclose it myself. I will be available to citizens and to the press on a regular basis to discuss what is going on at “City Hall.”

I would like to hear what you think about what I have said. Please respond.