Especially here in Oklahoma, it’s not unusual to hear candidates on the political right campaign that they are going to “run government like a business.” Our own Governor Stitt, himself a successful businessman, has been known to say that.
Now, I know what the most sincere candidates mean when they say that: They mean that they are going to run government efficiently and not spend money that doesn’t need to be spent.
The implication is that business always runs efficiently and above board. But, even the quickest look at the courts’ bankruptcy dockets reveals it is just not true.
Too often, once in office, those same candidates trend toward governing as though the government that we all pay for is their personal business.
And, with that approach, they sometimes take offense when taxpayers and the press start asking for information of any sort. As a journalist, I’ve literally had government officials say, “That’s not something you need to know.”
In other words, “it’s not your business” because, you know, it’s their personal business. That’s objectively and inarguably wrong.
Government at any level is not the personal business owned by the politicians who have been elected.
Those elected leaders are custodians of a government that belongs to all of us.
So far, in our democracy, it’s anyone’s right to ask for information from their government and get it, not just the press or broadcast media. Anyone.
It’s also our right to attend meetings and listen in to decisions as they are made and not just staged votes in public that have already been decided earlier in the real meeting held out of sight.
Life in a thriving democracy is a good life lived. But, the price citizens pay for the great life of a democracy is engagement and it’s information gathering. It takes time, energy, and staying educated, none of which is easy.
Yes, it’s hard compared to day-to-day life in an autocracy or dictatorship where the running of government is lazily handed over to cynical people who are in charge only for the power and would never think of what they do as “service.”
The antidote to that is transparency and open government decision-making.
And that’s what this week, Sunshine Week, is about. We are reminded that open government and the ability to receive information from government officials are critical to a functioning democracy if we don’t give up and lose it all.
As an editor still engaged in reporting tasks, I see situations where citizens have filed federal-level FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests and pass along information that our too-often overwhelmed operation just doesn’t have time to do.
That is also true on the state level where Oklahoma’s Open Records Act and AG opinions that support it provide openness of government.
The Oklahoma Open Records Act applies not just to state government but all other lower and more local governments chartered by the state such as county and city governments as well as school boards and any other government entities.
The Open Meetings Act provides clear guidelines that are too often gamed by cynical governmental leaders, but we must continue to insist that they be followed.
Local news outlets depend on tips and documents passed on to us from engaged citizens who keep demanding information from their government until they get it.
Sunshine Week is not just to remind everyone that the news needs to have access. It’s about everyone’s right to that information and that access.
Do you have an opinion about open records and open government? Do you have a story to tell about open records or open meetings? Send an email either with your ideas for feedback or your finished product by clicking on the email icon at the top of any page on this website.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
