Let the sun shine in on government of, by and for the people
Lead Summary

By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
This is Sunshine Week, a national celebration of access to public information and government transparency.
As I have written before, it will be negligibly observed March 13-19 by those precious few Americans who give a rat’s arse about what they really pay for on the local, state and national levels and what they actually receive for their tax dollars.
Sunshine Week is a time to give thanks that we are not yet a kakistocracy (government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state). We seem to be getting closer every day, though.
Ohio attorney general and former state auditor Dave Yost kicked off Sunshine Week by releasing the 2022 edition of the Sunshine Laws Manual, a one-stop resource for information on the Ohio Public Records and Open Meetings Acts.
As we reported this week, Yost today released the 2022 edition of the Sunshine Laws Manual at https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Legal/Sunshine-Laws.
Public officials ought to familiarize themselves with these laws.
“You can’t have government of the people, by the people and for the people if the people don’t know what their government is doing,” Yost said. “That’s why we need transparency in government. Transparency builds trust. We in government need to build trust with the people we serve.”
"Sunshine Week has been around only since 2005, but government openness dates back to the Founding Fathers, Lost said. "The week always falls on James Madison’s birthday, March 16 – better known as Freedom of Information Day."
Madison, of course was our fourth president, serving from 1809-17. He played a major part in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, and he proposed the Bill of Rights four years later. He was a Democratic-Republican. How about that?
Sunshine Week was launched in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors – now known as the News Leaders Association. It is an enduring initiative to promote open government.
The manual, commonly known as the “Yellow Book,” is updated annually by the attorney general’s Public Records Unit to reflect the previous year’s law changes and legal decisions affecting Ohio’s open government laws.
Public officials or their designees are required to complete training on Ohio’s Public Records Act at least once per elected term. In addition, the Public Records Unit also created a model public records request policy for local governments to use as a guide when creating their own policies.
It has been my experience that there are far more public officials who have not read the “Yellow Book” than those who have. In fact, I doubt one in five public officials can name all of the relatively few reasons for an acceptable executive session without calling legal counsel.
In a column at http://sunshineweek.org/ and headlined “Public officials must be transparent at all times,” Jim Condos wrote: “Transparency isn’t just a buzzword or something we should do as government officials. It is a requirement, that all power being originally inherent in and consequently derived from the people, therefore, all officers of government, whether legislative or executive, are their trustees and servants; and at all times, in a legal way, accountable to them. We must never forget that in government, our boss is the public.”
Indeed.
Jim Zachary, president emeritus of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, wrote the following in a Sunshine Week column.
"Whether talking about the White House, the statehouse or the county courthouse, all the documents held in government halls belong to the people, and all the business conducted by our governors is public business. We believe our government – your government – can only be of, by and for the people when it is out in front of the people. Primary to our republic is the understanding that we are the government and the government is us.
"So, whether it is Congress, the state’s General Assembly, county commission, city council or the board of education, it is your right to know all of the people’s business. When you attend local city, county or school board meetings, ask questions and hold elected representatives accountable, you are not minding their business, you are minding your own business.
"When you make a public records request, you are not asking local records custodians to give you something that just belongs to them or the office where they work. You are simply asking for your own documents."
Let the sun shine in.
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press, Highland County's only locally owned and operated newspaper.
As I have written before, it will be negligibly observed March 13-19 by those precious few Americans who give a rat’s arse about what they really pay for on the local, state and national levels and what they actually receive for their tax dollars.
Sunshine Week is a time to give thanks that we are not yet a kakistocracy (government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state). We seem to be getting closer every day, though.
Ohio attorney general and former state auditor Dave Yost kicked off Sunshine Week by releasing the 2022 edition of the Sunshine Laws Manual, a one-stop resource for information on the Ohio Public Records and Open Meetings Acts.
As we reported this week, Yost today released the 2022 edition of the Sunshine Laws Manual at https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Legal/Sunshine-Laws.
Public officials ought to familiarize themselves with these laws.
“You can’t have government of the people, by the people and for the people if the people don’t know what their government is doing,” Yost said. “That’s why we need transparency in government. Transparency builds trust. We in government need to build trust with the people we serve.”
"Sunshine Week has been around only since 2005, but government openness dates back to the Founding Fathers, Lost said. "The week always falls on James Madison’s birthday, March 16 – better known as Freedom of Information Day."
Madison, of course was our fourth president, serving from 1809-17. He played a major part in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, and he proposed the Bill of Rights four years later. He was a Democratic-Republican. How about that?
Sunshine Week was launched in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors – now known as the News Leaders Association. It is an enduring initiative to promote open government.
The manual, commonly known as the “Yellow Book,” is updated annually by the attorney general’s Public Records Unit to reflect the previous year’s law changes and legal decisions affecting Ohio’s open government laws.
Public officials or their designees are required to complete training on Ohio’s Public Records Act at least once per elected term. In addition, the Public Records Unit also created a model public records request policy for local governments to use as a guide when creating their own policies.
It has been my experience that there are far more public officials who have not read the “Yellow Book” than those who have. In fact, I doubt one in five public officials can name all of the relatively few reasons for an acceptable executive session without calling legal counsel.
In a column at http://sunshineweek.org/ and headlined “Public officials must be transparent at all times,” Jim Condos wrote: “Transparency isn’t just a buzzword or something we should do as government officials. It is a requirement, that all power being originally inherent in and consequently derived from the people, therefore, all officers of government, whether legislative or executive, are their trustees and servants; and at all times, in a legal way, accountable to them. We must never forget that in government, our boss is the public.”
Indeed.
Jim Zachary, president emeritus of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, wrote the following in a Sunshine Week column.
"Whether talking about the White House, the statehouse or the county courthouse, all the documents held in government halls belong to the people, and all the business conducted by our governors is public business. We believe our government – your government – can only be of, by and for the people when it is out in front of the people. Primary to our republic is the understanding that we are the government and the government is us.
"So, whether it is Congress, the state’s General Assembly, county commission, city council or the board of education, it is your right to know all of the people’s business. When you attend local city, county or school board meetings, ask questions and hold elected representatives accountable, you are not minding their business, you are minding your own business.
"When you make a public records request, you are not asking local records custodians to give you something that just belongs to them or the office where they work. You are simply asking for your own documents."
Let the sun shine in.
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press, Highland County's only locally owned and operated newspaper.