Without transparency, there is no liberty

"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have ... a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean the characters and conduct of their rulers."

-- John Adams, second U.S. president

The Nevada Freedom of Information Coalition has launched its latest effort to tell the voters and taxpayers of Nevada where their representatives stand on the issue of transparency in government.

The Nevada FOIC is a nonpartisan organization affiliated with the National FOIC and is dedicated to supporting openness in all levels of government, primarily through education and public hectoring of those who would conceal the conduct of government from those who elected them.

The organization is grounded in the precept that free speech is a farce without solid, factual information upon which to form the content of that speech.

At a news conference at the state's Grant Sawyer Building Thursday morning, I, as the president of the still fledgling organization, announced that Nevada FOIC is sending to all 63 legislators in Carson City a Transparency Pledge. It is similar to the Openness Pledge we sent to candidates in this past fall's election.

Our letter asks lawmakers to "pledge to the citizens of Nevada that I will support efforts to make Nevada's state, county and local governments more open and transparent."

They are asked to "support legislation to strengthen the letter and spirit of Nevada's open meeting and public records laws."

There's more, but that is the gist of it.

At the news conference I emphasized that this initiative doesn't favor either side of the political spectrum, left or right, Democrat or Republican, pro-tax or anti-tax. In fact, the coalition is working to embrace politically diverse individuals and groups, because all sides, in order to adequately and authoritatively advocate and defend a position or issue, must have information.

What are the actual dollar figures? What are the alternatives? Who has advocated what and why?

I not only quoted John Adams (see above), but read the words of another advocate of openness with whom I and the coalition strongly agree.

"We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government," this person stated.

"Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. ...

"Public engagement enhances the Government's effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions. Knowledge is widely dispersed in society, and public officials benefit from having access to that dispersed knowledge."

Those words appeared above the signature of President Barack Obama within days of his inauguration.

(He is now having a bit of a crisis of conscience over the release of photographs of American interrogations of suspected insurgents. Philosophy clashes with practical result. But his concept is sound. His words are dead on.)

Our state lawmakers understand the principle. After all, they passed the open meeting law. It contains a beautiful preamble that nails the idea that the people are the ones who hold the reins of governance, while elected and appointed officials merely serve at their behest, subject to their evaluation and consent.

"In enacting this chapter, the Legislature finds and declares that all public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business," states Nevada Revised Statute 241. "It is the intent of the law that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly."

The law goes on to spell out prohibitions for dodging its provisions and makes just about any document a member of a public body receives available to their bosses -- the voters.

But then the statute declares, " 'Public body' does not include the Legislature of the State of Nevada."

Do as we say, not as we do.

Someone suggested the legislators might find a way to wreak vengeance on the coalition or the media for daring to embarrass them. I would rather be a martyr for liberty than writhe under the thumb of a petty tyrant.

The coalition will post on its Web site, http://www.nevadafoic.org, the names of those legislators who sign the pledge. Click on "pledge" in the header and pull down the menu to 2009 signers. We'll see if there are any takers, considering the behavior of late in the Capitol.

May liberty be preserved, because, as Adams said, "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."

Thomas Mitchell is editor of the Review-Journal and writes about the role of the free press and access to public records and meetings. He may be contacted at 383-0261 or via e-mail at tmitchell@reviewjournal.com. Read his blog at lvrj.com/blogs/mitchell.