The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to people who have sought to gather information about their government and keep its officials honest and accountable to the people they swore to serve.
Some officials have used office closures and social distancing orders to hold meetings and make decisions without public involvement or comment. Some have ignored requests for public information. Certainly, the pandemic has affected how all offices operate, but a little creativity has enabled many other public entities to continue serving their communities they way the should.
Those offices deserve our appreciation, and make it clear that those who have used the pandemic to defy open government laws by choice, not by necessity.
The situation perhaps adds a new meaning to this year’s commemoration of the public’s right to know what their officials are doing and how their tax dollars are being spent.
Every March, news media, open government advocates and others commemorate Sunshine Week to highlight the importance of keeping the public informed and officials accountable. The week is held around the March 16 birthday of James Madison, who is considered the Father of the Constitution and a chief advocate of the Bill of Rights and open government. The name comes from Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who penned treatises on “The Right to Privacy” and “The Duty of Publicity,” wrote, “Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants ….”
Simply put, officials are more likely to behave properly if they know they are being watched by people who have the power to vote them out of office.
Even before our nation was founded, however, public officials have fought against accountability. Some have wanted privacy that enabled them to do as they pleased and perhaps even enrich themselves or others without the people’s knowledge. Some might have been honest but considered public scrutiny a nuisance that made their work more difficult, costly or time consuming.
But our nation was founded under the principle that the general public should have a say in how they are governed, and that is impossible if the public doesn’t have the information it needs to assess officials’ performance and render knowledgeable decisions and votes.
Fortunately, Texas is a state that historically has understood the need for a well-informed public and strong open government laws that seek to keep public offices and officials responsive to the people. In fact, Texan members of Congress have used many of our state laws as a framework to proposed federal open records and open meetings legislation.
Unfortunately, efforts to weaken those laws and to darken the light under which our public servants must serve are a constant challenge, and we must continue to fight to keep them.
During this Sunshine Week, let us appreciate the value of open government, and make our own pledge to be informed citizens, utilizing public information to help keep our officials honest, and inform them of our intentions and preferences as an active constituency.
