The Tallahassee Democrat

A need to know
Chapter 119: It's all about Sunshine

Because civics is given short shrift in public schools these days, and privacy and patriotism are in the limelight more than ever, democracy is bound to get even messier than it naturally is.
Lack of knowledge coupled with fear of knowledge spells trouble.
Most scholars ó and certainly politicians downtown with their sleeves rolled up and working hard this springó eventually conclude that democracy is not the neatest management system on earth.
On the contrary, as Harper's editor Lewis Lapham put it so well in his brilliant 1977 essay, "democracy is neither easy, quiet, orderly, nor safe."
In "The Retreat from Democracy" he went on to say that our system of government assumes conflict not only as normal but also as necessary. He said democracy defines itself as a continuing process of change ó which implies friction and unhappiness.
Today is Sunshine Sunday, an occasion we in the media make a fuss over. That's because time and again it proves so important for citizens to know about and have access to public meetings and to be able to take a look at the dusty records of government.
That's no small problem: A new public records audit organized in Florida by the First Amendment Foundation shows that 42 percent of local governments failed to comply with state public records laws ó†they balked at requests or officiously made citizens jump through hoops.
No, it doesn't make journalists or zealous citizens the most popular kids on the block when they walk into a government agency and insist on seeing records that could be embarrassing to someone. Maybe such things as the extent of training given to boot-camp employees; or the financial records of the company that won a state contract to take over state personnel records and then farmed them out to clerical workers in India and Barbados; or how a big government grant is being spent.
Messiness or inconvenience or fear of embarrassment doesn't make the job of "knowing" less important to the balancing act of democracy.
Yet, given a couple of big shifts in public policy in recent years ó privatization and more intense privacy issues ó it's harder than ever for voters and taxpayers to know what's going on in their name and with their money.
Not even legislative oversight committees have it easy when it comes to following up on, for example, the privatization of certain state responsibilities.
Ask Sen. Nancy Argenziano, who represents parts of the capital district, about that. A legislative committee she heads is literally making a federal case out of knowing what's happening to state personnel records processed for the private company with the state contract, Convergys, by one of its far-flung subcontractors.
There are often good reasons for outsourcing or government partnering with private companies, institutions or organizations. Yet when Florida agreed to give $300 million to Scripps for moving to our state and expanding our medical research industry, lawmakers didn't bother to require much in the way of oversight or follow-up. And when public officials themselves indulge in such utter blind trust over how such vast amounts of tax money are spent, they weaken the Sunshine Law and undermine their constituents.
On the opposite page, First Amendment Foundation President Barbara Petersen quotes the late President Ronald Reagan's call to "trust, but verify."
There is no better way of describing the fundamental need for government-in-the-sunshine laws. When efforts are made to weaken it ó as they constantly are ó or to grant exemptions ó more than 40 are filed so far this session ó they should be considered with extreme concern for the greater good of the governed.
As readers, citizens, taxpayers and voters, we hope you will join the Tallahassee Democrat and media across the state in reaffirming your support of government in the Sunshine, Chapter 119. This law's for you.

Reproduced courtesy of The Tallahassee Democrat.
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