Opinion

Open government is more accountable

Posted January 26, 2009 10:00 pm

Kudos to DuPage County Auditor Bob Grogan for posting his county's expenditures online in the interest of transparency ("Rare showing of transparency refreshing," Herald Editorial, January 15, 2009). Madison was on point when he said: "A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both,"

Your editorial concludes: "In the interest of better serving the public while saving money, why isn't everyone doing this?" That suggestion seems to be lost on the members of the Illinois Legislature, the boards of the other 101 Illinois counties and the elected officers of every subordinate Illinois political subdivision. If the elected public officers of this state had followed Grogan's example, we would likely not have one former governor in prison, another about to be impeached and indicted and state government held up as a national laughingstock.

Michael Woloshin

Tower Lakes

Article Comments

Article Categories
Communities Letters to the Editor Opinion Tower Lakes

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.