The News Tribune Open Government Forum
The News Tribune is hosting a forum on ‘open government’ tomorrow night. Anybody want to join me?
If local governments are to be held accountable for their actions, the public must have access to paper and digital records, and decisions must be made in open meetings.
Those topics will be discussed by journalists, government officials and others Wednesday during an “open government†forum at The News Tribune. The public is invited.
Details in the link.
Link to The News Tribune
4 comments
F fredo April 23, 2012
I don’t believe the council should be funding the YBT or any other discretionary projects until they are able to stabilize the budget. The city is supposed to be providing necessary services in a cost effective manner. Doubt if providing “paid internships and training in green-related careers” is a service that’s of any value to the general population in Tacoma.
J jd April 23, 2012
I’m very interested in seeing what the Q1 Financial Report shows. Are we still on the projected course toward financial Armageddon, is it worse than expected, or is it going to show that the economy’s on the rebound, and the third quarter projections (historically, always lower than the other three quarters) were misleading?
On another note, you may be surprised to find that I disagree with Fredo’s comment about YBT. He has mentioned several times that the city government needs to be run in a cost-effective manner, and that all discretionary spending must be put on hold. What he hasn’t done is give any viable options. I think that training Tacoma’s young adults in “construction and sustainable/green-related careers” is probably very cost-effective given the potential. Investing in our young people, especially with the end result being living-wage, tax-paying jobs, is a great example of bang for our buck. It seems that it would be an outstanding service of tremendous value to the entire population of Tacoma.
BTW, the last thing we need here is Disaster Jim “reporting live from Tacoma” on Poo-Storm 2012. We already get enough jokes about the smell! Having experienced a sewer ‘issue’ in my own house, I cringe at the thought of a sewage Tsunami (sewage-nami? Tsu-age?…) roaring down our streets.
J Jesse April 23, 2012
Oh crap.
F fredo April 23, 2012
“It seems that it would be an outstanding service of tremendous value to the entire population of Tacoma.” jd
So “job training” is now a function of the city government? Don’t we have a separately operated school district with career guidance for students and it’s own taxing authority? Do we have excess money for this low priority item?