Kicking of 2012 as our guest blogger is Ernestine Krehbiel. Ernestine is the president of the League of Women Voters Kansas. She can be reach at lwv.kansas@gmail.com. This post was published earlier on in the Wichita Eagle.    

A legislator recently asked a League member what we meant by transparency in government since he’d heard it mentioned several times about the redistricting process. To that legislator and all those of our elected leaders, we mean that we demand openness in government and the informed involvement of our citizens in decision making—not decisions by executive or legislative fiat.

Instead of public involvement solving our problems, we now have only hints, rumors and cliffhangers suggesting enormous changes are coming from behind the veil of the governor’s office.

Even the new voting law’s significant changes about what will be required to vote this year still lie largely unexplained to the voters. Calls recently to eight random Kansas counties’ Department of Motor Vehicles offices showed that not even their workers knew about the legal requirement to provide the state-issued, free, photo ID for voting.

In his State of the State speech (1/11/12) will the Governor lead with transparency or will he be vague and then go back behind his curtain to make and push policy drawn up in secret with advice from who knows whom?

The hints suggest big issues. Drastic cuts to state’s income tax which now provides almost one third of the state’s revenue. What will happen to the investments in education, transportation, public safety and other areas crucial to making the state attractive for families and businesses? Will schools have the resources they need to provide an education that helps people compete for good jobs in today’s global economy? Can Kansas really run an effective health care system by putting it into the hands of a rumored for-profit businesses mandated to put income in their own coffers?

To make up for the drastic income tax cuts, will the governor propose putting sales taxes on services? Or utilities and farm equipment as Sec. of Revenue Nick Jordan hinted?

Or will a reduction in state funds just throw the responsibility on local governments to raise property taxes to pay for needed schools and services? (This happened in some counties where his administration eliminated nine SRS offices.) The governor’s plans are secret.

Who will pay more and who will pay less? .

Kansans want their state government to be open and accountable with spending not one penny more than it needs to be. We elect our public officials to be stewards of the state’s future and to do so with open government. We also need an informed and involved public to do this but we can't do this with secret plans. There must be no secrets in a democracy. That’s why it is so important for the speech that Governor Brownback will give to contain more than just numbers and policy ideas. It should also explain how the process will move forward — specifically how interested Kansans can engage in the debate.

Kansas has a strong tie to the Wizard of Oz, a fictional man behind a curtain pulling secret levers. We do not need real Kansas government conducted secretly behind a curtain. Open government is the essence of democracy.

• Americans for Prosperity-Nebraska, a free-market advocacy group, has filed a complaint with the state attorney general against the Lincoln-Lancaster County Public Building Commission, alleging the body violated the state’s open meetings laws. The complaint alleges that commission did not provide adeuate notice of an emergency meeting to draw up plans to buy a bulding near city hall. The only notice the commission provided was one hasty flier on bulletin board inside the City-County Building and a notice on a website the morning of the meeting. Don Killeen, building administrator for the Public Building Commision, maintained that the city's attorney claimed the flier met the state law’s requirements for public notice of an emergency meeting. Normally, the Public Building Commission’s regular meetings are advertised in the newspaper. However, the director of the Nebraska chapter of Americans for Prosperity, Brad Stevens, said in a press release, “Hanging a flier inside the City/County building announcing this irregular meeting of the PBC is an insult to taxpayers.” For more information, read Deena Winter’s post on The Franklin Center for Government  & Public Integrity. 

• Hudson County’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics has already taken some heat for holding part of its executive  meeting behind closed doors. Associated Press reporter Michael Gormley asked for an explanation as to why the board was headed into private session, citing New York state’s Open Meetings Law. The outgoing executive director, Barry Ginsberg, explained that JCOPE—like former state ethics panels—is exempt from the Open Meetings Law and the Freedom of Information law. Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, the chairwoman of JCOPE, maintains that while the board will try to hold public, but sensitive matters—such as personnel decisions and investigations—would need to be done in private. For the whole story, check out James M. Odato’s post on Times Union.
• New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow has created new rules to keep records of any State Police overtime pay confidential, blocking their access to the public. A Superior Court ruling from 2005 said that the records could be used to determine patrolmen’s assignments, like Homeland Security, undercover cases and the Executive Protection Unit. State Police overtime records had actually been shown on a state website from Governor Chris Christie’s administration designed to promote government transparency and to use for open public records requests for state employees salary numbers. The website, called Christie’s "Transparency Center," will no longer post policemen’s salaries. Supporters of open government said taxpayers have the right to track public spending. Ron Miskoff of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government said, according to the Republic, "The public is paying the freight, and I don't see how knowing someone's overtime will put anyone in danger." For Bob Holt’s take, read his post on New Jersey Newsroom. 
• The Sunshine Review has given Kansas a transparency score of “B.” The Kansas state website earned a “B” grade, accounting for half of Kansas’ overall grade. Sunshine Review also analyzed the websites of the five largest counties, which averaged a “B.” The five largest cities earned a “B+” and the ten largest school districts averaged a “C+.”Kansas’ scores across the board are just average compared to other states around the country. Anything less than an ‘A+’ is a disservice to Kansas taxpayers,” said Michael Barnhart, President of Sunshine Review. “Transparency should be a priority to every elected official and voter. Citizens in Kansas and around our nation deserve to have the information they need to hold their government accountable.” For the whole story, read Fred Gough’s post on Hutch Post.

Connect with other transparency bloggers in this Transparency Bloggers Google group   and see what others are doing in the transparency movement by joining this Citizens for Open Government Google Group.

• Despite the state’s spotty history with transparency, The Sunshine Review has just increased the Kansas state website’s grade from a B- to a B thanks to redesigns made by Governor Sam Brownback’s administration. Kirstin McMurray, The Sunshine Review’s managing editor, maintains that the site could be further improved  by disclosing  any lobbying that state-funded organizations do to secure federal help for the state. State Representative Kasha Kelley seems to agree, pointing out, “We’ve been so busy dealing with the budget that no one’s pushed transparency issues. I  think budget issues and open government issues go hand in hand. The less you have to spend, the more you have to account for it.” To get the whole scoop, read Gene Meyer’s post on Statehouse News Online.

•  The Winchester Sun has asked Attorney General Jack Conway to review an executive session the Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation Board held before deciding to allow alcohol sales in a local park during a concert. The parks board responded, claiming that they had received legal threats from the public regarding the decision. According to the Kentucky Open Meetings Act, public bodies are required to conduct all of their business in an open session except when certain issues arise, including threatened or pending litigation. The Winchester Sun responded that the threat of legal action was “remote” and therefore the exemption did not apply. For the whole story, see Mike Farrell’s post on The Kentucky Open Government Blog.
•  In 2005, the Boston City Council faced a lawsuit that revealed 11 deliberately secret council meetings with Boston Redevelopment Authority and Boston University officials in 2003-05. The meetings violated the state Open Meeting Law and the court fined the council $11,000.  This week, Judge John Cratsley ruled that the Boston City Council no longer needed court monitored meetings to ensure they met the state’s Open Meeting Law. Crastley maintains, “There has been a positive change in the Council’s attitude toward and attention to the requirements of the Open Meeting Law.” Transparency advocate Shirley Kressel, the plaintiff in the case, is not convinced. She claims, “The loss is not ours. The loss is to the citizens as a whole.” For John Ruch’s take, read his post on The Mission Hill Gazette Blog.  
• Mayor Bloomberg has just launched NYC BigApps 3.0, a contest that challenges software developers to design mobile applications using official city data. The competition started in 2009 and is geared towards government transparency and improvement of the lives of New Yorkers. The fits nicely alongside Bloomberg’s stated commitment to increasing technology in New York. For more information, see Kristina Farrah’s post on Silicone Angle .

For my 2nd installment of 24 days of Local Sunlight, I want to give a shout out to Kansas Meadowlark, for an excellent collection of watch dog news and some  independent research.  Kansas Meadowlark has been researching campaign donations for years and now regularly contributes his expertise to Kansas Watchdog.  I especially like the resource page that points to open records information and  links to other watchdogs in the state.  This blog is a great collection of good government information that helps keep lawmakers accountable.

Kansas Meadowlark is definitely one of my favorite transparency bloggers.

Every week I climb into the depths of the local political blogosphere to find the Sunlight. I use this series to highlight local blogs that do a great job of covering local, state, and congressional political news. I have highlights from Kansas, Washington, and Massachusetts.

Kansas MeadowLark has an excellent post on the different reporting requirements Kansas has for out of state PACs versus in state PACs.  The post points out that a large sum of money from out of state PACs are not being put online so people can find them.

In Washington, HorsesAss, has a great post on possible campaign donation disclosure violations by the State Attorney General and the Washington Association of Realtors.

In Massachusetts, Hub Politics, talks about Gov. Patrick’s Task Force on Public Integrity’s meeting.  The meeting is set to ask citizens for input on how to keep lawmakers more honest.