The Observation Deck

Sunshine Week, March 16-22, 2014

Open government is good government!

Join us in a Lakewood discussion about the importance of access to public information and what it means for you and our community.

How will you celebrate Sunshine Week?

A few good resources:

http://www.sunshineweek.org
http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Legal/Sunshine-Laws

Back when I accepted an appointment to Lakewood's Community Development Block Grant Citizen's Advisory Committee, we were strongly cautioned in no uncertain terms not to discuss any city business that was before us at any time other than in a public meeting. If some of us happened to meet for coffee somewhere, we could not discuss any city business at all. That was only to happen during our public meetings. I presume that had to do with Ohio's Sunshine Law. (Government having to do public business publicly)

As far as I am aware, and I served under two administrations, that was the way it was.

The sad part, as far as I am concerned, was seeing how few attendees came to those public meetings. It would have been nice to have seen more citizen involvement, but I'm not sure how that could happen. Meetings were announced, times were allotted for public comment, and, at least with our committee, we listened to those comments very carefully.

I learned a great deal about local governance and the federal, state, and local guidelines that they have to deal with. I would encourage any citizen interested in how our government works to contact their councilperson, or the Mayor's office, regarding the many opportunities that there are for citizens to learn, or even get involved with, their local government.

Back to the banjo.

Thank you for your volunteer service, Gary.

Sadly, I believe that many a City Hall decision looks like:





Matt

It really is amazing how many paid, professional, traditional, and civic journalists we have living in Lakewood!

But what's even more amazing is that some of these same journalists call folks "crazy" and "out of control" for demanding:





And, instead, these same journalists proudly slap folks at City Hall on their backs for proclaiming:





Is journalism dead?

Well, maybe.

Just imagine City Hall without The Lakewood Observer, The Observation Deck, and all those crazy, out of control folks some journalists are complaining about throughout the 'Wood.

Fortunately, we - the residents - have Sunshine Laws - if we demand enforcement of the Sunshine Laws.

I think I'll celebrate by reading the Google Transparency Report...or maybe not

http://searchengineland.com/googles-lat ... key-180319

Google wrote:Over the past four years, one worrying trend has remained consistent: governments continue to ask us to remove political content. Judges have asked us to remove information that’s critical of them, police departments want us to take down videos or blogs that shine a light on their conduct, and local institutions like town councils don’t want people to be able to find information about their decision-making processes.

From the Society of Professional Journalists' Facebook Page:

To promote open government during Sunshine Week on March 16 to 22, we're asking all journalists to exercise their rights by filing an open records request. Think of what you need to research for a story and send in your request today. Let's encourage the government to give quick, easy access to public information.

https://www.facebook.com/SocietyofProfessionalJournalists?ref=ts

Sunshine Week audit finds:
http://www.cleveland.com/cleveland-heig ... _community

Hi Scott,

Thanks for this link. I admit I was jealous of the ease the citizens of Beachwood, Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights have in terms of understanding every idea proposed in their City Councils and how much they cost. It seems that those cities are confident about what they are discussing and proposing and are not nervous about revealing costs, and are pleased to share their good work and ideas with their citizens, in plenty of time for citizens to comment and participate.

From the article:

Shaker Heights, Beachwood and Cleveland Heights residents can easily find out how city officials plan to spend their tax dollars with the click of a button...

Shaker Heights posts agendas several days before all meetings, along with an explanation about every piece of legislation, along with how much it costs and why the project is needed, up to several weeks before council members vote. Shaker also includes graphs, charts, maps and other supplemental information when available.

Imagine.

Betsy Voinovich

Betsy Voinovich wrote:Hi Scott,

Thanks for this link. I admit I was jealous of the ease the citizens of Beachwood, Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights have in terms of understanding every idea proposed in their City Councils and how much they cost. It seems that those cities are confident about what they are discussing and proposing and are not nervous about revealing costs, and are pleased to share their good work and ideas with their citizens, in plenty of time for citizens to comment and participate.

From the article:

Shaker Heights, Beachwood and Cleveland Heights residents can easily find out how city officials plan to spend their tax dollars with the click of a button...

Shaker Heights posts agendas several days before all meetings, along with an explanation about every piece of legislation, along with how much it costs and why the project is needed, up to several weeks before council members vote. Shaker also includes graphs, charts, maps and other supplemental information when available.

Imagine.

Betsy Voinovich

Betsy,

I think you'll find this interesting:http://www.heightsobserver.org/read/2013/05/10/date-set-for-public-records-trial-regarding-taylor-road-rehabilitation

http://www.cleveland.com/cleveland-heights/index.ssf/2014/02/cleveland_heights_pays_13000_t.html

http://www.heightsobserver.org/read/2013/10/01/ch-needs-a-better-public-records-policy

FWIW