How to Succeed in Local Government Agencies

Regarding the Editor’s Note about media coverage of local government meetings on March 15, that was a well-written piece and deeply appreciated. Having served on boards I have seen board members tempted to be secretive and avoid transparency. But in the end, transparency is always better for all involved, including the board members. I’m pleased that most boards in this area are quite open and forthcoming.

Only a very few local board folks seem not to understand this. Those paid board administrators and/or elected or appointed board members who are willing to own their actions and opinions serve us and themselves well. When they make a mistake, they need to own the mistake and recognize we can revisit it and fix it. Those who prefer to slither in the dark are in the wrong line of work.

And that includes answering public questions publicly. When a board or board administrator refuses to answer questions publicly, big red flags go up. The Pathfinder approach of publicly displaying questions and answers from local government officials serves us all well, including the public agencies being questioned. When those agents do not want sunshine, that is when we need to be deeply concerned.

And speaking of public questions, when local government agents are holding a public meeting and they announce they will take questions “’in writing only” as in one I recently attended in Seeley Lake, serious concerns are ignited. It’s clear to most the potential for abuse. It is much simpler for them to thwart genuine public criticism of any issue up for question by controlling the questioning process. The facilitator of the meeting or one of his/her lackeys can edit out the ‘uncomfortable’ hardball printed questions and leave mostly softball questions for the panel to hit out of the park. This is not a recommended approach to handling public questions and gives the impression the meeting is rigged.

Let’s commend all the folks here in Seeley Lake who are willing to serve on local boards and expose themselves to public criticism while just trying to be open and honest and give so much of themselves without hiding in the corners.