We have used this page previously to argue that all elected officials say they are for transparency in government while only a few are actually willing to practice it.
Just this month Tim Carney, the newly elected mayor of Stone Harbor, announced that the governing body meetings for 2025 would move to 5 p.m. in order to provide a better opportunity for those who work to participate. It was a positive and welcome step toward encouraging participation in local governance.
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It goes beyond transparency, to the question of who is in charge. If we want to reestablish county government of the people, by the people and for the people here in Cape May County, we are going to have to stand up for it.
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Meanwhile, after weeks of wrangling and professions of existing transparency, the county commissioners are willing – wait for it – to release the notoriously poor quality audiotape of their meetings 72 hours after the meeting instead of two weeks after.
They have argued that they already have a deep commitment to transparency. This is their display of that commitment. It would not be beyond the pale for many citizens to consider this “gesture” an insult.
The commissioners insist on holding their meetings when members of the public who work for a living are most likely not able to attend. They insist that video technology to provide real remote access to their meetings is not needed. Anyone wishing to present an issue or ask a question of the local county governing body can only do so by making their way to the actual physical meeting, even if they live hundreds of miles away during a significant portion of the year. Further, the relevant documents for the meetings, such as resolutions and presentations, are not even provided in advance.
Who is being served here? Whose life is being made easier? Then citizens get a statement from the commission director, Len Desiderio, that reminds them he has been elected continuously, implying, smugly, that people cannot be too upset with the way things are run. The political machine that is heavily involved in every partisan election in the county effectively gets its people in office, and that somehow is proof that the public is happy with the county’s governance. What Desiderio was effectively saying was that until he and others can be effectively challenged, until that threat is real, they are going to govern in the way they choose to govern.
What is the argument against video access? They don’t want to do it. It is too clear and unassailable a record. It would encourage people who are quiet and seemingly satisfied now to potentially get involved in local government. What the commissioners are saying is there is no upside for them in the use of this technology. It promotes more public “interference.”
This is not an issue of money. The county budget has grown to well over $200 million on the back of surging real estate values. This is not an issue of staffing. It is not an issue of technology. It is plainly an issue of will. Desiderio and the commissioners who vote with him on almost everything do not want it. He does not want it at the county, and he does not want it in his hometown of Sea Isle, where he has spent three decades as mayor. And where there is no remote access, no remote participation, and meetings are held during working hours.
The county collects and spends $165 million in taxpayer funds. The tax levy is 77% of the total revenue in the county budget. Taxpayers, those who can vote and those who cannot, have a right to see how that money is spent. They have a right to easily see salaries for county employees without going through a decoding process from employee ID numbers. They have a right to hear the deliberations of the governing body as decisions are made and votes are taken. They have a right to speak up and make comment or ask a question, even if it is December and they are ensconced in their permanent home in Pennsylvania.
Transparency is about making the exercise of those rights easier. It is about welcoming the public to the table. It is about dealing with the messiness of the democratic process. Nothing makes the case for needed reforms like hearing the current crop of commissioners say they are already fully transparent.
If you want transparency in government in Cape May County, you can have it. But you will not get it by asking for it. You must force concessions that go way beyond releasing a tape 72 hours after a meeting. If you want transparency it will cost you, because we have all allowed the present system to calcify. Strong candidates will be needed to run for office backed by funds that make their candidacy more than a show of discontent.
You can have transparency. The real question is, how badly do you want it.
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Quotes from the Bible
Bible quote on the importance of truth and transparency:
“For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” – Luke 8:17
