On the Western Banks of the Shenandoah

In a setback for transparency efforts during the General Assembly Session, the Senate Finance Committee killed SB 812, which would have allowed (but not required) local governments to put their expenditures online. Its patron, Senator Ken Cucinelli, released the following statement:

“In the age of Obama, where Democrats preach ‘hope,’ ‘change,’ and ‘open government,’ its disappointing to see that those are meaningless words,” said Cuccinelli.  “The reality is that the status quo is willing to block anything that allows the people to see into how their government is really run.”

I have to admit that in the initial publicity surrounding this year’s transparency bills I thought the measures were only for the state government. While other bills do focus on the state government, I think this bill may have been even more important. Even though its closer to most people’s lives, local government often does not get enough notice or attention. Such an open look at the goings-on of local government probably would have a put a halt to the sort of minor corruption that goes on all the time, such as the government paying for employees lunches (and I’m not talking Christmas Dinner here) or indiscriminate use of petty cash. 

Wonder where VACO stood on this one?

Word is that bueracrats in Richmond are scared that transparency might finally come to the state budget and further jeopardize their pet projects (as if the budget crunch wasn’t doing that already), causing them to trot out the excuse that it will cost too much. The Family Foundation, however, begs to differ:

Last year, it said it would cost more than $1 million. This year, between $1.5-$3 million. This might seem plausible except for the fact that no state has created such a search engine for more than $300,000 and the federal government put its $2 trillion of annual spending online for $1 million. Virginia spends a “paltry” $39 billion each year. Most states have done it for free, because OMB Watch, a group that created the software for the feds, has made it available for free to states!

So today, working with the National Taxpayers Union (special thanks to Josh Culling), we secured a statement that will will distribute to the General Assembly. It comes from the Treasurer of Nebraska. He created NebraskaSpending.com by Executive Order in 2007. He proved that putting a searchable budget database online could be done inexpensively without compromising its purpose. For $38,000, NebraskaSpending.com includes information on state government dollars to be spent, state dollars received, investment operation pool, grants, contracts, and a breakdown of property taxes and state aid.

Two stories that should be disconcerting to any citizen activist. One local government story that has gotten attention across Virginia is the ongoing saga in Gloucester County. There’s plenty out there about this controversy if you want to read more about it. The long and short of it, though, (summarized here in an article about recent citizen outrage), is that a majority of the county board and the sheriff were indicted for conspiring to fire the county administrator. 

Not only were the charges thrown out, and not only was the county ordered to pay part of the $125,000 in legal fees amassed by the Supervisors, but a group of citizens who circulated a petition to remove the gang of four were ordered to pay $85,000 in legal fees.

Outrageous. 

Read more…

I’m getting the ball moving fast on my first foray into podcasting with the premiere episode of the Big O Show tonight at 11 p.m. We’ll be discussing the show’s format, the state’s massive budget deficit and some creative ideas out there to fix the issues, the press in Shenandoah County, state and local government transparency issues, and fallout from the GOP’s huge near-win in deep blue Alexandria. All that and my fave of the week. To listen to the show, click here around 11 or so. If you want to call in, dial us up at , or you can chat with us in the chatroom that will be up on the show’s page. And remember, if you just can’t make it to 11, the show will be there when you get up on Friday morning. 

But whatever you do, be sure to take a listen as we take this exciting new journey into a new means of communication.