“Open government is good government.” Seems some of our elected representatives tend to forget that. This legislative recap from the Virginia Coalition for Open Government gives you an idea of why I say that, at least as it applies to Virginia.
An editorial in Sunday’s Virginian-Pilot raises the issue that the Norfolk Council needs to sell the convention center/hotel to us. Perhaps if they hadn’t made the decision behind closed doors in the first place no “selling” would be necessary.
Sunshine is, indeed, the best disinfectant, to paraphrase Brandeis.
My letter posted in Richmond Times-Dispatch – In keeping with “Sunshine Week”:
Governor McDonnell placed Wm Goodwin on the UVa board to be a guiding influence. As a “millionaire businessman” various “sunshine” organizations also have reported him to be a large financial contributor (over half a million dollars) to McDonnell’s political activities. Goodwin, with similar unilateral behavior (to Dragas), has proved to be as much of a distraction from accepted board procedures as has Helen Dragas. He did not attend the University as an undergraduate, and he shows little respect for UVa’s core principles. He’s a Virginia Tech grad who later got an MBA at UVa. His counsel would be more useful in Blacksburg at his alma mater. Gov. McDonnell holds a law degree from Pat Robertson’s Regent U. and he’s Robertson’s kind of leader. That’s hardly in keeping with Thomas Jefferson’s world view. The UVa Founder championed separation of church and state and opposed monarchical, unilateral governance. Also Tim Robertson is on UVa’s BOV, further imbedding right-wing religious ideals in that body—a university where Jefferson gave priority to prohibitions against the establishment of religion, just as he did in our nation. Goodwin makes comments that educated people find difficult to support. He claims that public access and Freedom of Information are harmful to BOV procedures. How can a well-trained faculty respect a Board member who talks like that? Thus Gov. McDonnell and his minions have put both our university and our state in jeopardy; the results will lead to economic and education losses, not just jokes on TV shows.
Posted by Gerald Cooper | Monday, March 11, 2013, 4:07 pmGovernment — giving new meaning to the phrase “where the sun don’t shine.”
Posted by Warren | Tuesday, March 12, 2013, 10:23 am