Open Illinois.org

A popular way for officials to stall or stop government transparency initiatives is to claim that they’ll cost the taxpayers too much money. They say that tough economic times call for cuts in spending on programs and greater restraint when considering new projects. But transparency needn’t cost a lot of money, or any, in fact.

In DuPage County, where pro-transparency efforts have been successful as of late, some board members are citing the unlikely possibility of excessive cost to establish new transparency programs.

A Daily Herald article entitled “Plenty of Ideas, little funding at DuPage panel meeting” reports: 

Members of the committee – made up of one county board member from each of the six districts – suggested a plethora of initiatives that would make it easier for John Q. Public to see what the county is up to. But many of the proposals would require substantial financial investments to get off the ground.

“We could come up with a thousand wish lists,” warned District 6 board member James Zay. “If we had extra money laying around, that’d be great. But we have to watch these things so we don’t break the bank.”

Board members should consider the fact that Auditor Bob Grogan’s latest initiative took fewer than 6 weeks and cost nothing. Also, they should take a look at Kate Campaigne’s great policy brief on transparency, which goes into the cost and ease-of-implementation arguments.

The article also cites a couple of small but neat things DuPage is doing to open government to the citizens:

Committee Chairman Jeff Redick has scheduled a slate of meetings for the new group and is inviting leaders from various watchdog groups to share what initiatives they believe would make the county more open. An e-mail account for the public has also been created at transparency@dupageco.org to allow residents an opportunity to provide input on government openness.

Let’s keep it going, Liberty Leaders!