Public criticism is part of the job. Sometimes it comes through a meeting. Sometimes it lands in your inbox. Sometimes it shows up online and starts gaining wider traction. If you work in a clerk’s or manager’s office, you’re often right in the middle of it. You’re tracking what happened, what was decided, and how [...]
Or, how limited Internet bandwidth can really mess up your transparency. If the pandemic taught us anything, it's how important connectivity is to our community. Streaming local government meetings is still a thing, and bandwidth is key, inside Town Hall, and at home. Way back in 2013, telecommunications policy expert Susan Crawford, titled First steps [...]
Citizen participation is a key benefit of transparency. Citizen participation really means that a person shares information with their government. Whether it's a phone call, text or email to a representative, participating in public comment in a meeting, or volunteering to serve on a committee, it's all about letting the government know something they might [...]
Providence, Rhode Island City Hall ICMA shared an article on promoting ethical local government by Michael A. Gillette, PhD. Accountability: Local governments must be accountable to the public for their actions. This means that they must be transparent about their decision-making process and be willing to answer to the public for their decisions. Transparency: Local [...]