One of Five City Council Members Willing to Talk Transparency

[This is Part 2 of my discussion of the March 15 City Council Meeting; Part 1 is here.]

At the end of the March 15 City Council meeting, I asked the Council "to agendize the topic of transparency with the goal of having a public discussion, with public input, on ways to increase the openness of city government."

The Council's reply was:

YOU WANT THE TRANSPARENCY? [sneer]
YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRANSPARENCY! [spittle flying over the dais]

Just kidding.

They didn't say "no" with a bang, but with a whimper. Not a single Councilmember flipped the switch of his little "I have something to say" light. Thus, the City Council decided AGAINST a public discussion to improve transparency.

How discouraging.

But I found out on Wednesday that at least one City Councilmember DOES, after all, want to talk about transparency.  Councilmember Mosby has decided to host a public discussion - on Tuesday, April 12, 6 - 7:30 pm, in the Grossman Gallery of the Lompoc Public Library.

Yes, there are still four City Councilmembers who don't want to talk about the importance of open government. But I like to look on the bright side.

Here's our chance, Lompoc.  Let's make sure our voices are heard. Let's demand a more transparent city government. The Council needs to be reminded, as noted in the Brown Act:

The people of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.

Here's a link to the Lompoc Record article:

Lompoc councilman plans forum to discuss government transparency

Update: I am VERY sorry to report that I was out of town visiting family when the forum was held, but I read about it here:

Forum focuses on improving public participation in local government

... and the Record did a nice editorial on this subject:

Working together for success

... and here is another opinion, published in the Record a few days later:

Making the most of true transparency