Thursday, Mar. 11, 2010

Letter to the Editor

Transparency is key

I must disagree with your commentary printed in the March 6 issue.

Councilman Solon should be commended for her questioning and not be publicly scrutinized for it. Citizens are not always given the chance to ask questions and one citizen was denied asking a question Monday night March 1.

The council member’s primary role is to be the voice of the citizens. A council member must be willing to ask the tough questions. These questions should be asked in a public forum. If a council member asks a question outside of the council meetings then they should make sure they let their constituents know what they asked and what the answer was.

Citizens should be provided easy access to information on where and for what programs their money is being spent.

If a city council member receives a donation during their campaign, Missouri law requires full disclosure. The same should occur if a council member receives payment for services rendered for committees, organizations and businesses that are currently working with the city of Blue Springs.

In my opinion, there is a conflict of interest to agree to award financing and/or tax breaks and then reap rewards by working for that same group.

Taxpayers deserve to know more about how their tax dollars are used. Taxpayers and voters are the owners of our government agencies and their assets.

As long as tax dollars are being used for any project, there must be transparency. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for the citizens to know what their government is doing. This applies from the federal government down to the local government.

Without public oversight, governments that are not transparent are more prone to corruption and undue influence. Michael Freeman, Blue Springs City Council candidate, District 3