Seldom does this column offer an opinion that is so quickly substantiated by the behavior of local politicians. In our column of Sept. 14, we said that all politicians say they are for transparency in government even though few actually practice it. We predicted that the easiest way to see “an Oscar-winning scene of outrage and self-pity” was to accuse elected officials of purposefully avoiding transparency. That was the scene at the county commission meeting the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Commissioner Will Morey suggested some relatively simple changes to board practices that would increase transparency in county government. He called for the audio recordings of the commission meetings to be made available to the public within 24 hours of the meeting. They are now available two weeks or more after the meeting. Morey also suggested moving the meeting time from a caucus at 2 p.m. and a regular meeting at 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. so that constituents who hold jobs would have an opportunity to attend.
What Morey got in return was the outrage and denial we predicted. Commission Director Len Desiderio proclaimed that the board already is transparent. Vice Director Andrew Bulakowski agreed. Commissioner Bobby Barr said, “I don’t know how we could be more transparent,” even though he had just been told how. So much for denial; the outrage followed.
Bulakowski said he takes exception to any insinuation that the board is “holding something back from the public.” Barr upped the ante, taking “great exception” to the same.
This comes from a commission board that meets during normal work hours, provides no video remote access to its meetings, refuses to make the audio recordings available until two weeks after the meeting and even manages to make the audio recordings of limited use by routinely speaking away from the microphones.
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Commissioner Barr declared, ‘I don’t know how we could be more transparent’ while ignoring practical suggestions that lay at his feet.
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Actual transparency in government is so hard to achieve because it gets in the way of allowing elected officials to make the decisions they want to make without the messy involvement of public opinion before the fact. Public opinion, even when in the form of opposition, after the fact is always easier to deal with.
Even if all the actions selected by the Herald as examples of open government, categories contained in charts in the last two print editions of the Herald, are met, transparency is advanced but not guaranteed. Truly open government requires a commitment to public knowledge and involvement, something we are a far distance away from in Cape May County, both at the county level and at municipal levels in many of our towns.
We are the county with the highest median age, by far, in the state. We are a county in which many of those with billions invested in real estate do not live here year-round. These unique characteristics demand remote access to governing body meetings at county and local levels.
The county board is the place to set the example. It should not be the place to lead the resistance.
Confronted by Morey’s very modest suggestions, Commissioner Barr made another move straight out of the resistance playbook: defer to legal counsel, knowing you will be supported. County Counsel Jeff Lindsay added a new element to the opposition to Morey’s requests: The rules are the rules. Lindsay, in effect, said just that, and then added that they are set at the annual reorganization meeting.
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The technology exists, the funds are available, but the will to empower public involvement seems absent.
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The governing body of the county has within its power the ability to change any rules it itself put in place. But let us assume that the place to change things is the reorganization meeting. The county will have one in less than a month. Commission Director Desiderio has the opportunity to charge forth with some real reform and please his county counsel at the same time.
It is important to realize that the public interest is what we should be serving here. Will Morey deserves thanks for even braving the question of transparency in front of a board that he knew in advance would be resistant. But his modest suggestions about moving the time of the meeting later in the day and making a poor-quality audio record available sooner should not define what the board needs to do now.
The technology exists, the funds are available, but the will to empower public involvement seems absent. The county needs to take the bold step of remote video access to its meetings with the ability for remote participation. The days of poor-quality audio recordings should join those of party lines and dial-up internet access. There are even some county municipalities that could show the board how it can be done.
The argument that we are already transparent is silly and mendacious. A board that demonstrated such denial in the face of Morey’s calls for minor changes needs now to step up to its responsibilities to the public.
We will be watching the reorganization meeting where Lindsay says the rules are made.
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Quotes From the Bible
“What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” – Luke 12:3
