Sunshine in the Sooner State

A good friend of mine recently quipped, “We have to hold government accountable. But if we don’t know what they’re doing in the government, how can we hold them accountable?” This is certainly true in Washington with bills that go unread, negotiations and deals being struck behind closed doors, and legislation being “deemed as passed.”  But it’s equally true of local government.  Enter the recent report by Oklahomans for Responsible Government that exposes the lack of openness and accountability in Oklahoma’s municipal websites.

In their report OFRG details the hits and misses of websites for the 75 largest municipalities in the state.  There are some startling revelations.  In this 21st century, some cities have no website at all while others borrow space on the sites of local civic organizations.  And of the ten criteria for evaluating the sites, open records, lobbying, and taxation posted the worst ratings.  Only fifteen of the 75 cities successfully met six or more of the ten criteria for an open and accountable website.

It should be noted that in this evaluation, only the websites for towns and cities were included.  School boards and counties were not included in the study.  I’m willing to wager that, had they been included, the results would be stupefying.  It comes then as no surprise to learn of the recent scandal in which a small school district paid over half a million dollars to a contractor for janitorial supplies, in many cases paying four times the prevailing market price for some items.

All the more reason for American Majority’s recent successes in Oklahoma school board elections wherein 19 of 25 AM-trained candidates won their races.  And we’re just getting started…