Wednesday, July 27, 2005

The Monorail: What do we do now?

The King County Municipal League, a non-partisan citizen-run group dedicated to "effective and responsive government", is holding their own public meeting on the monorail
August 11, 2005. 7:30pm at Town Hall, Seattle.

Experts and observers of the Monorail will discuss good ideas and dead ends for the Seattle Monorail Project. Panelists and moderator to be announced. Sponsored by the Town Hall Center for Civic Life and the Municipal League of King County. Downstairs at Town Hall, enter on Seneca Street. $5 at the door only.
I've never heard of a town hall meeting that you have to pay to get in to.

This morning's Times has an open letter to SMP from the Municipal League, in which they stress the importance of transparency and accountability
SMP never had adequate transparency. The agency was unwilling to engage in an open and frank dialogue with the public or to provide timely information on important points. For instance, a draft finance plan should have been discussed publicly so that agency assumptions about public views on debt financing could be tested and the plan corrected accordingly. And too often, citizen concerns were dismissed as coming from "opponents," a practice that regrettably still goes on today. A public agency, unlike private entities, may not withhold information and may not choose to whom it will respond.

3 Comments:

At 9:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Transparent and accountable?

The Muni League has for years refused to explain how their candidate ratings are determined.

 
At 2:15 PM, Blogger Joe Goldberg said...

Guess they need to start practicing what they preach.

 
At 12:35 PM, Blogger Joe Goldberg said...

Phew, we can close the books on that one. The Muni League "has been rating candidates for public office since 1911 based on four criteria: Involvement, Effectiveness, Character and Knowledge. The League ratings are widely respected and provide the only independent non-partisan, non-agenda driven evaluation of candidates." [source]

 

Post a Comment

<< Home