| I am a huge believer that the only good government is an open government. An open and transparent government that is accountable to its people will thrive, partly due to the more open a government is, the more accessibility people have to information and providing feedback to said government.
That is why what Phillip reported earlier this morning is, as Blair Horner of NYPIRG said, "mind boggling."
It has been nearly a month since Governor David Paterson selected Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat. The process was, after Gillibrand's selection, over. Yet, Governor Paterson and his office refuse to turn over information regarding that process, which includes questionnaires and responses from prospective candidates for the post.
Multiple media outlets have tried to submit Freedom of Information requests with the office only to be stonewalled and told that the information won't be released to protect the personal privacy of the candidates.
When President Barack Obama officially took office, he sent this memo to heads of executive departments and agencies. In that memo, he said the following: "My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government."
With Governor Paterson and his office refusing to reveal such information, he is going against what the President (and our party's leader) is doing in the highest office of the land. Also, the governor and his office aren't helping the reputation of this state's government, which has notoriously lacked transparency over the years.
It is also interesting to note that if the governor's office is withholding the information in order to protect the personal privacy of the candidates, why did Sen. Gillibrand decide to disclose her own questionnaire and responses? She did redact the personal information (Social Security Number, home addresses, etc.) but left all of the questions and responses there for everyone to see.
Of course, Gillibrand has a long record of being open and honest with her constituents. She is, after all, one of the few members of Congress that posts her schedule online. She is arguably one of the most transparent members of Congress there is.
If you want to protect personal privacy, you can redact all of the information deemed personal. We do not need Social Security Numbers. We don't need home or cell phone numbers. We don't need home addresses. All we want to see is the list of candidates, the questions they were asked and the responses provided to those questions.
It is time Albany let the sunlight in. But we need leaders who are willing to be open and transparent. In order for that to happen, there needs to be someone in the Executive Mansion who is willing to step up to the plate and open the doors on his or her administration. That means Governor Paterson should be willing to be open and transparent. If he leads by that example, maybe then we will see Albany a little more open and a little more transparent. But right now, that is not the case.
Governor Paterson, it is time to be forthright with the people of New York. Release the information and let us see the contenders. Let us see our answers. If Sen. Gillibrand believed that the information provided was valuable enough to post on her campaign website, then it should be in the best interests of this state and your administration to release the responses from all the candidates who contended for this post.
And going forward, let's be a little more open and honest with the business that is being conducted in this state. |
