A step in the right direction

Black Hills Monitor has taken Governor Mike Rounds and his administration to task for giving little leadership in the area of open government. Their active participation in killing a good open records measure (SB-189) offered by Senator Nancy Turbak Berry of Watertown last year was disappointing. Their tactics were unconscionable.

On a separate but related issue, the Rounds administration opposed and defeated HB1233, which would have created a state web site containing public financial information and other state records. Ignoring the fact that such information is not as readily available to folks in Oelrichs, Wanblee, Kidder, Bruce -- or anywhere else outside of Pierre -- Rounds said it wasn't a matter of open government, it was a matter of accessibility. Excuse me? Then the Gov proceeded to say that it would cost too much to create such a web site and too much to maintain.

In a posting last March, we criticized the Governor on this issue and suggested that he might take a lesson from his fellow Republican Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, whose administration had established a site called Checkbook Online, listing all major state expenditures. Yes, this was long before Sarah Palin's star began to rise in national politics.

I'd like to know what prompted Governor Rounds to change his mind about such a web site. Perhaps he found some money tucked away somewhere? In any event, last Friday (September 12) the Governor announced creation of OpenSD, a web site that he says "...will be the one place on the internet to go for government records and information...that will help our citizens be more informed, involved, and efficient...it will become the central portal to government information in South Dakota."

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I doubt that the emergence of this new South Dakota web site had anything to do with Sarah Palin's selection as McCain's running mate. And I'm certain it had nothing to do with Black Hills Monitor advocacy. I'd like to believe that Mike Rounds did it because it's the right thing to do.

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Now that the information is starting to flow, maybe it can be organized in a more user-friendly way. State bureaucrats, lobbyists, and policy wonks in Pierre will no doubt find it reasonably understandable, if they explore it closely. The rest of us will have to work harder navigating through the information -- not because we're incapable of understanding it, but because it's presented in a typically bureaucratic way. Even Alaska's Checkbook Online, which is far more robust that OpenSD, appears created by folks who would find Reader's Digest confusing, because it's clearly written and organized for common folk.

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But OpenSD is a good first step! Congratulations to Governor Mike Rounds and others who've made this happen.

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Now, about that open records legislation...

Please Mr. Sun

Opponents of open government in South Dakota are a crafty lot.

First, they killed open records legislation introduced last session because it was a threat to “personal privacy.” Never mind that the measure kept intact all existing record exclusions protected by state law.

Now, another effort to put more sunshine on the business of state government has been quashed. Governor Michael Rounds vetoed HB 1233, which would have established a state web site allowing South Dakotans to track just how the state spends their money. Although the measure had passed the legislature earlier, there weren’t enough votes in the Senate this week to override the veto. This time, opponents claim the cost of more open government may be too high.

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At least, that’s the line promoted by the governor, according to Kevin Woster in the Rapid City Journal this week, “Rounds vetoed the measures, saying it had technical problems and that it was unclear what information would be designated for release. The governor also said it could cost more than $600,000 to establish and $100,000 a year to operate.”

The operative word here is “could.” Alaska has reportedly implemented such a web site at far less than cited by the Rounds people. As usual, there’s little specificity as to what the “technical problems” might be. Like he did with open records, the governor is likely to sit on this issue until it’s forced to a vote. Then he’ll introduce a spewing of general objections without specifics, designed to scare the daylights out of voters who otherwise would opt for sunshine.

Our state representatives and state senators represent you and me, the citizens of South Dakota. Despite the fact that over 80% of these legislators supported this bill, Governor Rounds vetoed it. Hiding behind “costs” and vague “technical problems” is disingenuous. It is becoming increasingly evident that the governor is uncomfortable with truly open government. He could take a lesson from Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (at left), whose Open Checkbook program is the latest in a growing nationwide movement to make information about state spending more readily available.

Alaska, in the “land of the Midnight Sun,” is truly making an effort to put sunshine on state expenditures. We South Dakotans can’t find even a ray of such transparency at high noon in Pierre.

His penchant for doing business in private – beyond the scrutiny of the public – detracts from the good work of Governor Rounds and his administration.