Tag Archives: accountability

F for Georgia state integrity

Worst of all fifty states; worse than South Carolina and worse than Michigan: that’s why Georgia’s gets an F on its corruption risk report card from State Integrity Investigation. Gov. Nathan Deal did just sign an ethics bill, but as William Perry, executive director of Common Cause Georgia says,

“It’s like you’re starving for a meal and somebody gave you a saltine cracker.
It’s chock full of loopholes.”

I wonder if this lack of ethics in state government has anything to do with widespread rural poverty in Georgia?

-jsq

Animal shelter vet resigns from board

Last month the Niagara County, NY SPCA fired its executive director; this month one of its board members resigned. He is a veterinarian, and he oversaw the euthanasia that a report by Erie County, NY SPCA said was improperly applied. He claims that wasn’t so, because the animals were anesthetized first, and now invoices for the anesthetic have turned up.

Michael Wooten wrote for wgrz.com 9 February 2012,

2 On Your Side contacted the SPCA Serving Erie County. Although Ms. Carr was unavailable, we were told she based her report and conclusions on the information that was provided to her and the interviews she conducted.

The Niagara County facility had poor record-keeping, so it’s possible Ms. Carr did not receive the invoices. Some have expressed concern about why all documents weren’t turned over during Ms. Carr’s investigation. Others have also questioned if Rompun, even in large concentrations and doses, are enough to make an animal unconscious.

Maybe if there had been more oversight and transparency at the animal shelter, none of this would have happened. At least in Erie County, New York, there’s finally some sort of accountability.

-jsq

Why all those VLCIA special meetings?

Here’s the VlCIA board approving minutes for some of those recent meetings, although you can’t tell what they were for, since they were listed on the agenda like this:
Minutes
  • Special Called Meeting, May 17, 2011
  • Executive Session, May 17, 2011
  • Regular Meeting, May 17, 2011
  • Special Called Meeting, May 20, 2011
  • Executive Session, May 20, 2011
  • Special Called Meeting, May 21, 2011
  • Executive Session, May 21, 2011
  • Special Called Meeting, June 7, 2011
  • Executive Session, June 7, 2011
That’s right: no indication of what the meetings were for.

I was told outside afterwards by one board member that the special meetings were for Continue reading →

Open Government

White House press release:
The Open Government Directive, called for by President Obama on his first full day in office, puts accountability and accessibility at the center of how the federal government operates. It instructs agencies to share information with the public through online, open, accessible, machine-readable formats. Agencies are to inventory existing information and establish a timeline for publishing them online to increase agency accountability and responsiveness; improve public knowledge of the agency and its operations; further the core mission of the agency; create economic opportunity; or respond to need and demand as identified through public consultation.
Agency accountability and responsiveness! What a novel idea. Why I wonder if such a thing could be tailored to local governments?
Second, it aims to instill the values of transparency, participation, and collaboration into the culture of every agency by requiring every agency to formulate an Open Government Plan and website. Specifically, each agency will be required to develop its own, unique roadmap in consultation with the American people and open government experts, rather than prescribing a one-size-fits-all approach. Once again, these ideas came directly from the public’s suggestions.
Government listening to the public’s suggestions? Local government department accountability? As Gandhi is reputed to have said about western civilization: “that would be a good idea!”