Exercise your right to be curious
President Obama began his tenure in the White House with a promise to make the federal government more transparent. After eight years of opacity, that was welcome news.
As we've seen, too much still happens without being subject to the antiseptic of sunshine.
It is the duty of an independent press to shine a light in the dark corners, to ferret out those who would corrupt the public's trust and misspend your hard-earned taxes. But it's also the duty of every citizen to ensure his or her government is doing the job it should be doing, and that's really at the heart of the Freedom of Information Act.
For the past four decades, the federal law has given regular joes access to information regarding how government is conducted and where the money goes. States, including Illinois, have their own versions of the law. A major rewrite of Illinois' is awaiting Gov. Pat Quinn's approval.
The League of Women Voters has always been a staunch advocate of open government and cajoling the populace into better understanding the big issues and getting people to vote. Not a particularly rewarding vocation, given the dearth of people voting. But they keep going. Because it's important.
The Kane County chapter of the League recently took another step: To audit just how open various layers of local government are.
In April, the nonprofit organization sent the same letter to 44 government bodies, primarily in Kane County, asking for an electronic accounting of the names, titles, salaries and dates of hire for all public officers and employees. In each case, it was a private citizen making the request, and neither the League nor the study was mentioned.
What the League got back was a mixture of immediate and complete information, late or spotty data and just about everything along the spectrum.
Our experience is that some forms of government - larger municipalities and school districts - deal with Freedom of Information records requests all the time. But some rarely, if ever, deal with one. That doesn't mean the law requiring the timely issuance of information doesn't apply to them.
We applaud those who complied - notably the village of South Elgin, cited as providing the information requested right away and even offering contact information for a village employee who could help with follow-up questions.
And we admonish those who did not fare well to brush up on the law, its goals and its requirements.
We applaud League members for their vigilance. But they'll be the first to tell you they can't keep government honest alone.
So attend a government meeting. Request documentation if something doesn't smell right to you. It's your right, after all.
When it comes down to it, if you blindly accept what you perceive as unjust government, but you abdicate your role as part of the checks and balances of government, what do you have to gripe about?