Transparency in Government -- How Possible Is It?

[roundtree]

Joy , Try to get info on how many law suits have been filed against Lamar Paris and Union county , and how much tax payers money has Lamar spent settling these suits . Compare this with other commissioners of our county . i. e. , Harold Cook .

[shortcircuit]

maddy said:

4, 49....what's the diff?!!! lol Too close to call it "people's wishes".

If it had PASSED by the same margin I'll bet you wouldn't be saying that.

[bb]

Shorty, I think it is safe to say that it was a very close election and either way you look at it, there are a lot of people for alcohol in the county, just as there are a lot of people against it. And whether people like it or not, there are more and more "outsiders" moving here and with that, more and more people that live, and VOTE here will be open to having alcohol served in public establishments.
Back on topic... a transparent government is an ideal, but since politicians are human, I doubt it will ever be completely transparent.

[manape]

Joy, what I'm looking for is a wiki where more than one person can participate in the actual web content, under the control of citizens like you who really care about transparency in government, no matter who is holding public office.

Yes, sometimer, I do support government by the people and for the people. Do you have a problem with that? Furthermore, I have no problem with people expressing their opinion no matter how stupid.

What I don't tolerate is blatant abuse of people who want to make Union County better. What I support is a way for people to come together in a positive way to improve government and making it easier for the people to interact with government between elections...not just before elections.

[manape]

Ape-that's a helluva thing to say when not a soul had posted anything negative. You ain't nothing but a trouble-maker.

It is not your data that is incorrect, bubba. It is your implications that are invalid. If I have made trouble for you, that's your problem. I have only done my job as a citizen and a voter. If that is trouble for you. So be it.

I guess the rest of us (80 percent of the voters in UC) who voted for SPLOST and making UC better are trouble-makers, too.. We wear that badge with honor?

[sometimeman]

80%=DieBold_Touch_Screen_Electronic_Scanning_Election _Stealing

[roundtree]

Can anyone find the amount of money Lamar paid from tax money defending himself and county in any of the audits ? It was your money . Come on Lamar this is a fair question . Where is our transparent records ?

[sometimeman]

When I think about our broken government, I want to drink!

[queenbee]

Sometime, Ape and Bubba. Participate in the topic without spitting on each other or take it back to your other fighting forums. What ya'll are doing is called hi-jacking a topic and it's not a good thing. You 3, minus one more have a habit of attacking each other in the topics you participate in.

Let the woman get back to her topic and get her questions answered.

[sometimeman]

Yes Mam.

[ghosthunter]

bubbadebubba said:

To me Transparency only comes when the electorate becomes involved and demands it. It is an uphill battle as can be seen here in Union County and across the Nation, from Local Government to our National Government.

Better information on websites help but until citizens become involved and seek out the information, they will never be educated on the workings of Government nor on what our elected officials do or how they vote.

Records of what our elected officials do speak louder than their words. Make sure you know the record of your elected official.

Website forums such as this can inform you to a degree. Most post here can be verified as either correct or incorrect by checking out the records. I encourage you to do so. I also encourage you to ignore your own opinions of the posters but instead check out what they have to say.

I swear the intelligence running through this political site is like a train wreck with no survivors !!

You guys need to thank God there's no IQ test people have to take to retain their right to vote or Justin would be dead in the water.

[unionindividual]

Ghosthunter,

My dog has a higher IQ than you. This lesson is now finished. Have a nice day!

[Joy]

Here's my thoughts (and questions) for today:

genenelson said:

Thank you for you question.

I feel that the more information the citizens have, the easier it is to get your questions answered and the more you under stand how the county works, besides the county records are open to the people and the easier they are to access the better.

That's right. The records are open to the public, but I'm afraid a great portion of the public has no idea how to get those records or even that they can get them. All of these records have been entered into a computer somewhere, right? (Since we're in the computer age, I would assume they have been, but I know what they say about the word "assume".) So, how hard is it to copy and paste that info (such as minutes from meetings) into a web page or add a download link to the documents? We're already paying someone to run the county's website, and we're already paying people to type up the records, so why can't we make that connection? You're definetly right, Gene. The more information the public has, the more they understand their goverment and (I think) their place in it.

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bubbadebubba said:

To me Transparency only comes when the electorate becomes involved and demands it.

I agree that it takes as much work on the part of the people as it does on the part of the officials. But, my question is -- how much of the electorate must come together and demand it? What percentage of the voters? Can an organized few get it done? Would an organized few be able to propel others into action, demanding transparency? (Ok, that was more than one question. )

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manape said:

Joy, what I'm looking for is a wiki where more than one person can participate in the actual web content, under the control of citizens like you who really care about transparency in government, no matter who is holding public office.

I was beginning to look into wiki software recently for another project. I like the idea of collaborative community project for transparency in UC. Could you tell me more about how you would put it to use specifically for this?

---

And...

ghosthunter said:

I swear the intelligence running through this political site is like a train wreck with no survivors !!

You guys need to thank God there's no IQ test people have to take to retain their right to vote or Justin would be dead in the water.

Ghosthunter, I think you're in the wrong thread. We're working on solutions here, not insults. I would love to hear your suggestions if you have any.

---

My Suggestions...

What I suggest is that we come up with a plan to implement transparency in UC's government. (Perhaps we could use Manape's idea for a wiki site for this work.) We identify what information we want available, when we want it available, and how we want it available. We identify ways to communicate effectively with the community. We could also work on educating the public about how our local government works and why we need transparency. (Until we do this, people won't see why all this is important.)

This should be a plan that whomever is elected can implement, and we should solicit a pledge to implement the plan (or some form of it) from each candidate. (How can politicians who promise to be accountable not want transparency?) Once the election is over and the new term starts, we would have to be watchdogs to make sure that those pledges were kept.

It's my opinion that "Elephants" and "Donkeys" shouldn't matter in the development of this plan. We'd be doing this for the people of Union County, not for political parties. I think if you ask people from both parties, they would all say that they do want a government of the people by the people for the people. This would also mean that people who love to feud on this board would have to put those feuds aside and work together if they wanted to work on this. (I'm not naming names! ) I think we could do it. I think we have people here who have great traits and abilities -- gathering research, questioning the status quo, generating ideas, and asking thought-provoking questions, to name a few. I think we all want our officials to be accountable to the public.

Ok, I've told you what I think. What do you think?


Oh, and please excuse any typos. It's long past my bedtime.

[genenelson]

On getting information from the commissioners office, you go to the Commissioners office and fill out a open record request for the information you need, If I remember correctly, they have up to three working days to get it ready, there is a charge per copy. The last time I requested some information, I asked for it on a C. D. they told me that the program that they used would not work with out me having the same program, at this time I do not remember what program they use.
If elected I will find out if County information could be put on a web site, and if so do it.

Thank you

Gene Nelson

[lightening]

ghosthunter said:

bubbadebubba said:

To me Transparency only comes when the electorate becomes involved and demands it. It is an uphill battle as can be seen here in Union County and across the Nation, from Local Government to our National Government.

Better information on websites help but until citizens become involved and seek out the information, they will never be educated on the workings of Government nor on what our elected officials do or how they vote.

Records of what our elected officials do speak louder than their words. Make sure you know the record of your elected official.

Website forums such as this can inform you to a degree. Most post here can be verified as either correct or incorrect by checking out the records. I encourage you to do so. I also encourage you to ignore your own opinions of the posters but instead check out what they have to say.

I swear the intelligence running through this political site is like a train wreck with no survivors !!

You guys need to thank God there's no IQ test people have to take to retain their right to vote or Justin would be dead in the water.

I didn't see anything unintelligent in that quote. I thought you said Justin was already dead in the water. And you should know, Ghost Hunter that you are. But then again, you also said you wouldn't be posting on here anymore...