Is Open Government a Good Thing?
We first read about the proposed city open government charter amendment on Austin Centrist. The Centrist thinks that the astronomical numbers the city is claiming this amendment will cost isn't worth all the trouble. However, Grits for Breakfast argues that the city manager and city council made up a huge amount since they don't care for this proposed amendment. Tricky, tricky. The Grits post contains a column written by Kathy Mitchell, the president of the Central Texas chapter of the ACLU, which the Statesman wouldn't print. The column does a good job of explaining the reasons for the proposed amendment and why it shouldn't cost as much as the city wants you to think. The gist of the column is summed up best in the last paragraph:
The Open Government Online initiative will cost a fraction of the city manager’s overblown estimate, and will very quickly start to save taxpayers money. Even better, it will give you the password to see information the city wants to restrict to big-shots and insiders so you can protect your own rights, your tax dollars and the city we all care about. (full column)This amendment is controversial and definitely not the easiest one to grasp; Austinist recommends reading up on it before the May election. Yes, May does seem deceptively far away from now.
* Image by Matt Wright
