Column: Let the sun shine and prevent government mildew
"Open government is good government."
Only five words are strung together to create that powerful and meaningful phrase. It is a phrase that each and every person in the city, in the county, in the state and in the nation should strongly believe in.
It is a phrase that people should carry like a banner, if and when necessary, into battle with the very people who serve them in elected and appointed offices.
In theory, that should not be the case. In practice, it absolutely is and must be the case. Unfortunately.
This is not a broad-brush application aimed at any elected or appointed bodies in particular, but all too often it is necessary to remind, cajole and even demand accountability on the part of those who do the public's business.
They write and pass the laws we must live by. They determine our tax rates, where and how our tax dollars will be spent. The people we elect and who are appointed to work within our town, city and county council and our public schools work for you.
As such, they are accountable to the very people who vote and who pay taxes. They are the public's employees. To let them operate unchecked, to give them carte blanche to do as they wish in passing ordinances, laws, tax rates, in spending public dollars, in making decisions that affect children's education and so much more is to abdicate your role.
You vote, you elect, they appoint, they hire and fire, and they make decisions that directly affect you. Your role does not end at the voting booth. It is up to you to hold accountable the very people who work for you.
If you own a business, do the employees not work for you? Do you not expect them to give an honest day's work and in the best interest of you as the business owner?
So it is with elected and appointed officials who run our collective governments. Do not merely hope and trust that all are doing your business in an above-board fashion. They owe it to you to be accountable, to be transparent.
Governments can gain the public's trust when they operate in the sunshine and not under the cloak of darkness. Sunlight, after all, is like a disinfectant and can prevent the spread of mold and mildew.
Richard S. Whiting is executive editor of the Index-Journal in Greenwood. He serves as Freedom of Information Chair of the S.C. Press Association. The Press Association is an advocate for open government in South Carolina.