Public access to open records
Tue, 2016-06-14 21:17
News Staff
RIGHT TO KNOW
By G. Romero Wendorf
If a governmental body is spending taxpayer dollars, shouldn’t the taxpayers have access to all of the details and the cost related to the expenditures?
One would assume the answer would be yes. Provided, of course, the deal has already been struck.
During negotiations, whether it involves the purchase of land on the part of a governmental entity, or bids for work submitted by private parties, or economic incentives offered by a city to attract a retailer, then common sense dictates that that information may be shielded from public view. To disclose that sort of info during negotiations may likely give a competitor an unfair advantage.