Open Government

What exactly is "open government"?  The Texas legislature has stated it this way:

Government Code Chapter 552. Public Information

Subchapter A. General Provisions

§ 552.001. Policy; Construction

(a) Under the fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of representative government that adheres to the principle that government is the servant and not the master of the people, it is the policy of this state that each person is entitled, unless otherwise expressly provided by law, at all times to complete information about the affairs of government and the official acts of public officials and employees. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created. The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to implement this policy.

That's a pretty good working definition if you ask me.  The government should provide complete information at practically all times about what it is doing and why.  This should be done so that the citizens, who delegate authority to government, retain control over it.  These principles are to be liberally construed and are faithful to the Constitution which is the foundation of our laws, nation, state and city.

Our federal and state governments pass new laws every year.  The process of passing new laws is well defined and is open to the public.  You can visit the websites of the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate,  the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate any time, day or night, and see what legislation is being considered for passage.  If you want information about laws already on the books, there are references available for that as well. 

Our city government passes new laws every year also.  However, it does not even attempt to provide the information its larger siblings do.  For example, new ordinances are not posted on a website, or anywhere else for that matter, prior to passage.  Requests for such information by citizens have been denied.  When new ordinances are brought before the City Council for a vote, there is little discussion, if any.  Even after an ordinance is passed, it is not readily available to the public.    You are required to comply, of course, but you must do this without knowing the contents of the ordinance.  You may be able to get a copy if you really work at it but who really needs this kind of aggravation?  There is currently no up-to-date reference available anywhere in our city where residents can go to see what ordinances they are subject to. 

Does this seem strange or unfair?  It should.  Fear not, though.  If you violate any ordinances (whether they are real or ficticious), the city code enforcement personnel will be "sociable" when they issue you a ticket for noncompliance.  This is to fulfill our current city leaderships Strategic Plan 2010 agenda.  I feel so much better, don't you?  The agenda does not include making the ordinances available to you. 

Ordinances are not the only issue.  The budget process is hidden from you in similar fashion.  Meeting agendas are cryptic and detailed information about the agenda items is unavailable to citizens.  City meetings are held out of town which makes them impossible to attend for most interested citizens - not to mention unnecessarily expensive for all of us.  Why should city business be conducted in other cities out of reach of NRH residents?  Postings for open meetings, which are required by law, are only made available on obscure bulletin boards inside city hall, not on the web where it would make sense to put them.  It appears that you are simply not supposed to know what is going on.  What are they trying to hide?

Nearly all of the problems I've outlined above could be fixed very quickly and easily.  There is simply no excuse for our city government to remain closed to residents.  Unfortunately, there seems to be no will on the part of our current leadership to make the needed improvements and to allow you to participate in the process. 

Remember what the State of Texas said about such matters:

"The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. "

Well, that is exactly what is going on in North Richland Hills.  It is up to you to decide if this is acceptable policy.  If it is not, you can change it by letting your voice be heard and voting for new leadership.  Voting starts on April 20th.

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