Mucking about on the City of Albany and Dougherty County web pages, I was struck by something a little odd. We live in a world where transparency is considered by many to be vital. We want to know who is doing what with our tax dollars and we want to know why. Both the City and the County are pretty good about that, though the County’s commission minutes are almost a month behind, the last dating from early May. But what struck me as odd is how there is so little about what is coming up.
There are many in this community who want to be involved in what their commissioners are doing, or at least what to know what’s coming up. They’d like to attend commission meetings on certain issues and would like to make their voices heard. This is, in my opinion, a wonderful thing. Accountability is all fine and good, but why not let the people let their voices be heard before hand, so as to avoid any potential pitfalls for our elected officials.
So why isn’t there anything posted on either the City or County Commission websites laying out the agenda for the upcoming meeting? The most recent agenda for the City Commission is from June 2, so clearly there’s a delay in putting this information on the web. How hard is it to upload the agenda a few days before the meeting?
I understand that with weekly meetings, it’s impractical to try and place an agenda up 30-45 days out. I truly do understand that. But why not at least put it up by the prior Thursday, which gives citizens the ability to contact their commissioners and let them know how the feel about a certain issue. Sure, some may say that we get more accurate picture of the commissioners and how they’ll vote. My answer is that by then, it’s to late.
So why not make it a little easier on the citizens to be involved. An informed electorate is always a good thing. While I may not always agree with the conclusions they reach, I respect that an informed argument is ultimately superior to a feable argument and will ultimately help us shape a better community. Obviously not everyone will take advantage of something like this, but what about those who would?
Also, the city budget for the new fiscal year isn’t posted yet. Does anyone know when it will be available online?
Actually, it is indeed posted. Mr. Lott informed me of it’s location via email some time back and I downloaded it for review (and in my opinion, he wasn’t all that polite about it…but since it was email, I’ll assume that his intent was to NOT be rude). However, the instructions aren’t readily available and it’s only easy to find if you know where you’re looking, which luckily is right here.
However, the deeper point is that something like the budget shouldn’t be tucked away in the finance department’s page where you have to know where to look in order to find it. It should be out in the open for all to see as this is something that impacts every citizen of Albany in many ways.
Aha! Thank you very much, Tom.
You’re absolutely welcome. However, I had to hunt around for it and I had found it before, so it’s practically impossible for people who have no idea where it’s at to find it.
Not a good sign toward tranparency, now is it?
No, but I guess you have to consider the source. I’m very interested to hear what happened to the proposed $72,000 (gasp gag vomit!)to run Carver Pool for less than two months. Hopefully someone with some walkin’ ’round sense nipped that in the bud.
Well, I plan on delving deeper into the budget soon and hope to speak with offiicials about specific things like why on Earth it costs that much to run a pool for a couple of months when so many homes maintain them for so much less….among many others I’m sure
Manybe thats why they won’t let you ask a question at the Lee county commission meeting. They don’t a person to understand, or maybe it’s because they don’t understand and if you asked the question, they might look a bit dumb?
I wouldn’t be surprised Mike. I can’t speak for the Lee County Commission, but based on what I’ve read, they have even less transparency than Albany or Dougherty County’s commission.