As the first year of the second decade of the 21^st century dawns I’d like to see the Chaffee County government agree to a new year’s resolution whose time is past due. In 2010 I’d like to see the Board of County Commissioners make a resolve to lead county government to greater heights of democracy through the implementation of policies and tools to instill transparency throughout county government. To riff on a line from OpenTheGovernment.org: If the saying ‘Information is the Currency of Democracy’ has meaning, then the taxpayers of Chaffee County are being pick-pocketed.

No-bid contracts and conflicts of interest are standard operating procedure here. Most recently, as last year drew to a close the commissioners approved a budget which included allocating $30,000 to a fledgling economic development group comprised of a handful of local Republican business leaders appointed by Republican Commissioners Frank Holman and Dennis Giese. Commissioner Tim Glenn, a Democrat, cast the dissenting vote over concern for the composition of the inaugural board, not its purpose. Subsequently, a short-term startup business plan, to be funded by the county, was put forth by appointee Mike Allen, who also serves as Nestle Waters North America’s local development liaison. Allen’s a bright guy and a savvy businessman so the plan is likely very intelligently laid out. However, when the county spends that much tax money on an issue so many concur is vital to our future, it would be prudent to issue a formal request for proposal to explore other approaches to creating a sustainable effort for an issue that enjoys widespread non-partisan support. From a public relations perspective, though I have the utmost respect for the individual members of the fledgling economic development corporation I personally know, the semblance of backdoor politics as usual and the aura of secrecy casts an unsavory pallor over the group that was entirely avoidable. Unless this group is able to quickly get off its feet and become self-sufficient before the next regime change in the commissioners’ chambers, this latest chapter in the county’s economic development saga is doomed to failure as its many, equally well-intentioned, predecessors.

The Chaffee County Visitor’s Bureau provides another example of how little regard the county holds for transparency. Board members enjoy no-strings-attached contracts and grants ranging from $500 for videography to some $40,000 for advertising for a company of which one board member is a shareholder, albeit that the company is hugely important to the winter tourism economy,. Meeting minutes indicate CCVB Chair Michael Varnum seems to consider financial oversight micromanagement. Meanwhile, the CCVB’s contract marketing director is using tourism tax dollars to pay for office supplies and equipment totaling upwards of $3,000 that, according to the terms of her contract with the county, she should be paying for out of her own pocket. No bid contracts and overly cozy relationships between board members, vendors and contractors with a near complete lack of accountability mean conflict of interest in decision making and budgetary matters is inevitable and considerable.

When public funds are on the table there is a compelling responsibility to conduct business with the utmost transparency and integrity. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. The likelihood that the CCVB is the only enterprise or department in the county guilty of financial and ethical conflicts is slim. Transparency benefits the entire community by building trust, and making government more accountable to the taxpayers funding it. As OpenTheGovernment.org maintains: “The public’s right to know promotes equal and equitable access to government, encourages integrity in official conduct, and prevents undisclosed and undue influence from special interests.”

Thankfully there is a way to help the county shine a light on its finances, operations and political appointments. The advent of social media and its associated technological advances make real-time information sharing easier and more affordable than ever which has, as a result, contributed to elevating the people’s right to know as a central social value.

However, the simple fact is that government at every level will only become transparent when we demand it of them and hold our elected officials accountable for it. That’s why I resolve to join with the Sunlight Foundation to bring to the local level their campaign to let government know that what it does is public information, and today, “public” means online and in real-time.

I am encouraged about our chance for local success by organizations like OpenIllinois.org, OpenMinneapolis.org and even our own federal government as they make strides toward greater transparency.

To that end the county needs to provides a complete, itemized, clear and searchable online description of all expenditures, including but not limited to all contracts, vendors, and grants. All expenditures must have a detailed account of the payment’s purpose and who authorized the payment. The information already exists in the county finance office, it just needs to be organized for sharing online.

The same goes for political appointments, which if transparency were already the norm, would have mitigated the political wrangling going on over the appointment of the land use code advisory committee. In this technological age there is no reason why the criteria and deadlines for application for posts, credentials of appointment seekers and broader community dialogue on candidates and appointees – as well as proposed land use code revisions and other matters of public interest – can’t easily be made public for all to see and comment on, not just those with the ability to take time off work to attend mid-day public hearings or make personal phone calls and visits to the commissioners.

In that vein, recently the Obama Administration began to publish online the names of everyone who visits the White House offices; provide online access to White House staff financial reports and salaries; disclose and limit lobbyist contacts; publish the membership of Federal advisory committees in downloadable form; and create unprecedented ways to track how the government spends taxpayer dollars. From online listening tours and chats to web-based brainstorming by government officials with the American public, the White House and federal agencies are opening up the way they work to improve accountability in government and deepen the roots of democracy. Last month, to mark the publication of the Open Government Directive every one of the White House Cabinet Departments launched a brand new open government initiative.

If a giant bureaucracy like the federal government can do such things, we Chaffee County taxpayers can and should demand parallel action in our own local government. By following the White House’s lead and making government data available in real time and inviting greater public collaboration in developing new products and tools for the public good, the county could take the values of openness and transparency and translate them into practical ways to address local priorities.

Together we must join in demanding less secrecy and more democracy of our local elected officials, their appointees, contractors and transparency and accountability in the operations and services they provide.