Open Illinois.org

I love reading news stories that attribute pro-transparency quotes to public officials (or even candidates). An article in today’s Daily Herald about Arlington Heights mayoral candidate Phillip Walter definitely fits the bill.

Phillip Walter said if Arlington Heights officials truly want a transparent government, they’d post all village bills and contracts on the village’s Web site.

“It would be a tremendous positive for residents to see what their village government is spending their money on,” he said. “Trustees already get this information on an (Microsoft) Excel Spreadsheet, so it shouldn’t be that difficult.”

Unfortunately, current mayor Arlene Mulder is worried about cost. Someone needs to let Mayor Mulder know that transparency costs nothing, is easy to implement and pays off politically. In fact, that same “someone” should deliver a copy of our very own Kate Campaigne’s report on transparency to Mayor Mulder ASAP. I’m sure that if she knew, she’d be right there with Walter.

(Both candidates should consider signing our transparency pledge, too.)

The article even mentions the good deeds of DuPage County Auditor Bob Grogan:

DuPage Auditor Bob Grogan was able to do this without additional costs or manpower because the database was already in place. He said it takes about an hour or two each month to bring the reports up do date. In addition, he believes it will cut back on Freedom of Information Act requests and save his office time dealing with those questions.

Kate and I ran into Auditor Grogan the other day on the street and invited him to our office, where he signed the transparency pledge right then and there!

The transparency pledge is a basic tool in our arsenal for good government action that we provide to members of our Liberty Leaders program. If you’re not already a Liberty Leader, sign up today!

Hat-tip to Kara Beth Vance–a former intern of the Institute–for alerting us to this article.