Sunshine Week - Celebrating the Public's Right to Know.

This Sunshine Week, (March 13-19) we urge you to press our public officials to do more, seeking not just broad statements of support for greater transparency but specific pledges and plans of action to enhance the public’s right to know.

Sunshine Week 2011 can be a time when you as a citizen or civic organization make a difference by identifying local or state open governments and then asking your public officials to pledge and initiate specific improvements in local or state law and practice.

Please forward a sample Proclamation to the leaders of our local governments and ask them to sign a Proclamation for "Open Government". 

• City of Redmond, Mayor John Marchione, mayor@redmond.gov
• Lake Washington School District, President of School Board, jpendergrass@lwsd.org
• Evergreen Hospital, President of Board of Commissioners, Al DeYoung, c/o lburton@evergreenhealthcare.org  

Read this sample Proclamation to send to your local government representative. 
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In recognizing earlier Sunshine Weeks, many public officials around the country issued proclamations extolling openness in government. A few introduced significant open government legislation or signed executive orders.

It’s time the pronouncements become actions and the few become the many.

To assist your efforts, the Sunshine Week team presents a sample Open Government Proclamation that you, or your group, can take to your public officials to seek a commitment on open government with specific action that will lead to increased sunshine.
Like all proclamations, it begins with a general statement of the benefits of open government at every level.

That is followed by a sampling of open government provisions that brought greater transparency to local and state governments around the country. We offer these as examples of the kind of specific action that may be needed in and appropriate for your community or state. We also hope these examples will inspire ideas for other openness measures that may be needed in your community or state.

We hope you and/or your organization will find these useful in considering what sunshine commitments are needed in your government and in crafting a specific proclamation and action pledge to present to your public officials.

Let us know if you are successful by contacting dmk  and writing "Sunshine Week Proclamation" in the subject line. If your government’s action was reported by the media, send along the link(s). We plan an “Honor Roll” on this website of government entities that adopt Sunshine Week open government pledges and/or take specific actions. @asne.org

Sunshine Week Open Government Proclamation
WHEREAS, James Madison, the father of our federal Constitution, wrote that “consent of the governed” requires that the people be able to “arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives,” and

WHEREAS, every citizen in our participatory democracy has an inherent right to access to government meetings and public records; and

WHEREAS, an open and accessible government is vital to establishing and maintaining the people’s trust and confidence in their government and in the government’s ability to effectively serve its citizens; and

WHEREAS, the protection of every person’s right of access to public records and government meetings is a high priority of (name of governmental unit), and

WHEREAS, the (name of governmental unit) is committed to openness and transparency in all aspects of its operations and seeks to set a standard in this regard; and

NOW, THEREFORE, the (name of governmental unit) commits during this Sunshine Week, commemorating the 261st anniversary of James Madison’s birth, and throughout the year 2011 to work diligently to enhance the public’s access to government records and information, to increase information provided electronically and online, and to ensure that all meetings of deliberative bodies under its jurisdiction, and their committees, are fully noticed and open to the pubic. 

Opinion By Bob Yoder