• Don’t ask, don’t tell Don’t ask, don’t tell While a saying like “don’t ask, don’t tell” might bring up the thought of the U.S. military’s policies on gays in uniform, the saying also fits the information wall the media
• Don’t ask, don’t tell
Don’t ask, don’t tell
While a saying like “don’t ask, don’t tell” might bring up the thought of the U.S. military’s policies on gays in uniform, the saying also fits the information wall the media faces at times on Kaua‘i. It is found both in federal, state and county government, within non-profits and in business situations.
Reams of faxes, letters and e-mail beam “happy” information to our office from all of the above. But when it comes to asking the hard questions we’ve lately heard: “that’s not good for Kaua‘i,” “we’re investigating that, in fact been on it for five years, but please don’t report on that as you’ll ruin our investigation,” “publishing the names of those that excel will make those who don’t feel bad.” One could fill this page with more excuses.
In particular, one government agency is close to being sued for not following an order from a higher-up government agency to release minutes of a closed-door meeting that the law says can now be released. In this case it was “if I don’t get back to them it will go away” instead of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
At other times, it’s taken investigations and requests for information to get the full picture on major organizations on Kaua‘i that had promised to be upfront with the public and media. It might take reading between the lines in some articles to see it, but these types of situation continue to exist.
There was a positive note this week with Mayor Bryan Baptiste launching weekly press meetings to discuss county government issues – this week his county budget proposals – and a promise to continue the weekly gatherings as long as he’s on island or doesn’t have a major commitment.
Shortly after his taking office the mayor promised to be open with the press, but such meetings have been few and far between, with the press getting little face-to-face time with the mayor, though an e-mail system keeps the media up-to-date on a wide variety of news emanating from the county.
In arrangements with radio stations the mayor and other elected officials are given time for “fireside” type chats that are one-way monologues. While these broadcasts are informative, they lack the journalistic questioning and probing that provides more than one side to a story, and might not always best serve the public interest.
With the advent of broad-reaching digital communications technology over the past ten years, finding information has become much easier. Government has made access generally easier. For instance, federal court documents that used to require a trip to Honolulu from Kaua‘i to access, are now online at a password-controlled Web site The Garden Island is privy to. This provides quick checks of court cases and looks at crimes that we might not otherwise know about. This is a good trend, and we hope the files of many more courts and government agencies will soon offer such access, instead of the old way of having to know somebody in government who might provide you the files.
In addition, Mayor Baptiste’s weekly meetings bode well for providing the public with more information about the workings of county government, as well as providing a higly visible example of being open to the press.
