COMMENTARY
Open government: Lawmakers deserve a D for accountability
By Jon Matsuo
When Rep. Sylvia Luke attended a recent community editorial board meeting, she said she would rate the 2006 Legislature's performance as a B- or a C+.
She was probably recalling the volume of bills generated, the number of hours spent hearing and discussing them, and all the negotiations required to move them forward.
However, this weighty responsibility demands a higher standard, one concerned with issues such as:
If focusing on the public interest can bring great success, then conflicts of interest, selfinterest and special interests can often spell great suffering.
These situations are caused by a lack of accountability. And the Legislature is an example of a system weak in accountability. Style or party loyalty often prevails over substance in elections.
Voters' memories are short. Emboldened by this knowledge, the Legislature killed the sunshine bill (which would have placed the Legislature's open-meetings and public-accessibility rules in the sunshine law) this session, thus earning a D for openness and accountability.
Attaining accountability requires that the public begin to hold itself accountable first, rather than pointing fingers.
Voting the way your grandfather voted defeats the very idea of having an educated, informed populace voting for what is best.
The media can educate on the issues, keep a running scorecard on the things that matter most, remind us who the heroes and the goats are as we enter the voting booth, and bring the sunshine in like no other community resource.
Business can do a better job in creating a partnership with those who are true stewards of our community, rather than becoming a special interest themselves.
We need to work toward the day when integrity, achievement, and contribution to the public good — rather than business as usual — become monuments to our system.
