Although there are many topics involving governance, (def: 1. exercise of authority; control. 2. a method or system of government or management.) within Essex County, Virginia it is the opinion of the ESO editorial staff that access to information (i.e.transparency) and completely verifiable/sourced information (i.e. facts) should be the fundamental obligations of government and the basic expectations of our citizens.
Of course the major issues of financial management, providing essential government services, staffing concerns, contracts for goods and services, efficiency of government operations, and ultimately the effectiveness of the operations will be examined, but without transparency and access to facts, our citizens are left in the dark (shutters closed, shades pulled down, and drapes pulled shut) and government can't be held accountable.
Facts are slippery things, sometimes deliberately hidden, sometime not available by lack of initiative. It's ESO's opinion that full government transparency, guaranteed by the Freedom of Information Act with certain enumerated exceptions will make facts available.i Our first task is to look at what is expected, how well Essex County Government is meeting the standards, and how well comparable counties (i.e. similar counties near Essex County) Boards of Supervisors and School Boards are meeting the same expectations.
No comments:
Post a Comment