Transparency Means More Than Public Statements

The Saddleback Road District board frequently uses the word “transparency.”

Good.

Transparency is important.

But transparency is not a slogan. It is a process.

It means open meetings, proper notice, accurate minutes, public records, and decisions made where the public can see them.

This district has already experienced an Open Meetings Commission reprimand.

That history matters.

Because the purpose of open government laws is simple: government authority is supposed to be exercised in the open.

Residents have repeatedly asked questions regarding bylaws, meetings, assessments, trustee actions, records, and statutory authority.

Those questions have often been dismissed as “drama,” “complaints,” or personal disputes.

They are not.

They are oversight.

Many residents do not realize that if disputes ever proceed fully through the court system, a process called discovery may occur.

Discovery is the legal process where parties may be required to produce records, communications, notes, emails, texts, and other evidence relevant to the issues in dispute.

It exists because courts do not decide cases based only on public statements. They decide them based on evidence.

In the past, efforts were made to bring concerns before a judge and obtain answers. Those efforts never reached that stage.

As a result, many questions were never tested, examined, or resolved.

That is unfortunate.

Because transparency works best voluntarily.

Open meetings.

Open records.

Clear minutes.

Clear authority.

Following statutes.

Those things reduce conflict.

They reduce suspicion.

And they reduce the need for courts to become involved at all.

Real transparency is not about controlling information.

It is about not being afraid of it.