Good Government Thrives on Public Input and Transparency

Good government is about playing by the rules, rules that apply to everyone, rules that make sure government is open and transparent about how it spends public money.

Good government is inclusive; it includes all branches of government and reaches out to the public to be sure citizens have the information they need to have a voice in government.

The Jennings administration has a hard time playing by the rules.  This week saw evidence of that when the city’s planning commissioner failed to show up at a meeting scheduled specifically for him, to discuss the city’s plan for nearly $1 million in additional community development funds being made available through the federal stimulus package.

Ironically, one of the requirements of drawing down stimulus funds is that there is adequate public input and participation in how the funds are spent.  This is why it is important, particularly for community development projects.

These funds are important to reclaiming neighborhoods from blight: blocks with as many vacant as occupied buildings. Neighborhoods with few businesses like grocery stores or pharmacies providing necessities.  Few resident homeowners providing that important base that helps a community thrive. These are the kind of issues Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) are supposed to address.

A city can’t arrive at the right solutions to these problems without engaging the people who live there, the people who do business there, and the people elected to represent those communities in setting the priorities. When the plans include tearing down buildings, providing for job training, investing tax dollars in rebuilding, the people who live there have a right to be in on it, and the city has the responsibility to include them in a timely, comprehensive manner.

Now the city has drawn up a plan for spending that money.  But they haven’t shared it with the Common Council, as the rules say they should.  They put an outline of the plan somewhere on the city website.  Unfortunately, most of the people who live in the affected communities don’t have access to the internet.  I also heard that they “advertised” in the newspaper.  I didn’t see it, and well, neither did virtually anyone in the affected communities.

This needs  to change.

Albany has a strong network of well-informed, engaged citizens and organizations.  Make use of it. Respect the rest of government, respect the citizens.  Play by the rules.

It’s good government.