If I have any advice for newly elected office holders, it is to be transparent. Taxpayers fund all of the schools and government agencies either through property taxes or sales tax. You are educating the people’s children and providing services and protection to residences. There should be few secrets in governing bodies except real estate transactions and personnel disputes and challenges. That’s really what the open records laws say.
In Tuesday’s election Greenwood Village may opt out of publishing many of their legal notices. The old adage, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” Legal notices follow a process of public hearings, review by a third party published in a local newspaper, and finally given final passage by the governing body. We sign an affidavit that we swear the public has been duly notified of the legal actions that not only inform but can be punitive for residents and taxpayers. How will a city provide themselves such an affidavit?
Publishing public notices leaves a paper trail that can last for decades in print. It is about following a legal process, reviewed by lawyers and finally put into the record books of government. State law still does not allow legal notices to be placed online. Another action is that legal notices must be published in the county or origin of the newspaper.
Special Districts have slipped in the law over the years that district notices can be published in a paper of general circulation; you will find hearing notices buried deep in The Denver Post, hiding budget and public hearings.
An example would be a rendering plant wanting to open in a residential area in Greeley in Weld County. If they run the public notice over in Ft. Collins in Larimer County no one may attend the public hearing and it gets approved. When the nuisance appears residents suddenly wonder, “How in the world did that get approved?”
Elected pubic officials should be champions of public notices and the people’s right to know what goes on in public meetings. We take covering meetings by Zoom or in person very seriously and that is the duty of the free press, sometimes described as the 4th Estate of Government.
With busy lives, hazards of COVID-19, working at home, or commuting in heavy traffic, know that a governmental reporter is watching these meetings and reporting on what is happening at the school board, city council sessions, or at the county courthouse. Newspapers have been the only source of continuous detailed coverage coming out of elected boards.
All newspapers, if communities are fortunate enough to still have one, are a major asset in maintaining reliable and accountable government. We’re not perfect but we’re the last line of accountability and we’re very accessible with letters of approval or disapproval. We represent the public interest and write the news when it happens, recording history as it unfolds.
The Villager took the high road in this past election and left the mudslinging to third parties.
There is an old newspaper joke that goes like this, “People subscribe to a newspaper because they already know the news, but they just want to find out if the newspaper has found out about it.”
Time to lighten up and enjoy Thanksgiving and the holidays.
Let us know about family events and let’s enjoy some good news together, leaving politics at the door.