It’s Cold, but We Need Open Windows

By Mary Treacy, Hindsight Community Fellow, January 24, 2012 at 11:30 am

As Minnesota opens another legislative session, it is time to examine our Data Practices Act and the Open Meeting Law, if for no other reason than the issue of open government demands public attention. For me, the details of the law are somewhat less important than the airing itself.

Remember those images of a closed Capitol, sequestered policy making, and debates in the dead of night? That didn’t bode well for our confidence in the resulting policies.

We are in especially complex times. The internet grants ordinary citizens tremendous government access. We can sift through bills, data and government reports from our laptops and living rooms. However, few of us have time to sift through read in depth, analyze, interpret the basics; and sort it all out, and even fewer can accurately contextualize it all. Some of us don’t have easy internet access or skills.

Also consider that the policymakers we want to keep an eye on implement the rules governing what’s collected, how it’s organized, and in what medium it flows to the public. When used for the greater good, easy access to information helps renew our trust in government. When used to preserve power, it undermines public access.

A free, robust and aggressive news media is critical. Information-seeking Twin Cities residents are fortunate; the major metro news outlets have a strong Capitol presence.

But what are rural residents to do? With Minnesota’s population concentrated in the metro area, many countryside issues tend to barely get a mention, let alone a critical media examination. Away from the Capitol, what’s in place to ensure quality coverage of our school boards, county commissions or municipalities?

Bloggers and advocacy groups also serve a vital role in augmenting policy coverage; however, most are underfunded, understaffed or espouse a particular view.

We the people want to know more, not less. Contrary to belief, we are able to attend to, retain and act on solid information we trust.

This demands time on task, collaboration and a clear vision of the meaning and strength of an informed democracy. It is a near certainty that issues of transparency and open government as manifest in the laws and regulations of the State of Minnesota will surface, if quietly, on the legislative agenda in 2012.

May the voice of Minnesota residents be heard in the ensuing deliberations.

Posted in News & Notes | Related Topics: Government Policy  Minnesota Legislature