• Open government • Good citizen • Exit plan needed Open government Any democracy needs a systematic, fair process for implementing consent of the governed. In a press release this spring, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) said, “Achieving the
• Open government
• Good citizen
• Exit plan needed
Open government
Any democracy needs a systematic, fair process for implementing consent of the governed.
In a press release this spring, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) said, “Achieving the true consent of the governed requires /informed/ consent, and such consent is possible only with an open and accessible government.”
But achieving the true consent of the governed requires something more than just holding elections every couple of years. What we need is informed consent. And informed consent is impossible without open and accessible government.
The default position of the government, must be one of openness — if records can be open, they should be open. If there is a good reason to keep something closed, it is the government that should bear the burden — not the other way around.
Not just in locally, but nationwide this spring, a “revitalization” of understanding of the open records and open records laws, commonly known as Sunshine laws, occurred. It was great to see a series of news articles and stories, in this newspaper and elsewhere. These articles reminded us all how important these concepts are because a movement away from openness has been apparent for some time.
We expect a lot from those that promise to be working in the publics best interest. We want them to be elected with fair and open procedures. Once elected, we want them to open be open and honest and to have high ideals.
If a person is described as having high ideals, there is sometimes the connotation that those ideals are unrealizable or at odds with “practical” life. I prefer to think of someone with high ideals as someone who should be exemplified and to whom others wish to be associated.
Hawai‘i Sunshine Laws and Open Records Laws (HRS92f) should be followed as the Office of Information Practices (OIP) recommends. If there is a good reason to keep something closed, it is the County who should bear the burden as to why any item should be redacted. When an item is too close to call, then err on the side of openness.
Our County should release all executive session meeting minutes following HRS92 guidelines as OIP has recommended. Our county should set a high example of openness and transparency.
Good citizen
A very special thank you to the man that picks up garbage along Kuhio Highway everyday on the North Shore. I see him often as I drive to work with his orange vest, hat and bag. I know it has been at least eight years now. YOU and all the people that do more than your share to keep Kauai remain beautiful – a million mahalos.
P.S. Also, congrats to DOT for the newly completed Kapa‘a traffic circle – a good way to alleviate a nasty convergence of traffic.
Exit plan needed
The president offered nothing new in his speech. No plan. No exit strategy. Nothing.
Iraq is no closer to stability than it was a year ago. Things keep getting worse every week. More than 1,700 Americans have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded.
The U.S. occupation is fueling a growing insurgency. Our presence is exacerbating the problem. There are tens of thousands of insurgents backed by hundreds of thousands of supporters.
We got into this war based on lies — the wrong way. It’s time to get out the right way. The first step is to realize that the Bush policy is out of touch with reality.
We need a real exit plan with a real timeline providing real accountability for our leaders. We need to turn control of the training of Iraqi forces and the rebuilding of Iraq to the international community. And we must renounce permanent military bases in Iraq because that angers the Iraqi people.
