What is my transparency record?
I started personally live-streaming Township Council and committee meetings to Facebook in 2016, so residents could watch their own government work (Patch, September 2016). When the Council moved to restrict residents from recording public meetings, I fought it publicly (Patch, September 2016). When it moved to close committee meetings to the public, I opposed that too — and wrote and proposed a “Berkeley Heights Sunshine Act” (Patch, January 2017). This website follows the same standard: public claims carry a source and a date.
My plan
- Agendas that say who asked for what. Residents should know who placed an item on the agenda and why.
- No burying major decisions. Long-term tax agreements and major financial commitments get their own discussion and their own roll-call vote — not a slot inside a bundled consent agenda.
- Documents before the vote. The materials the Council votes on should be online, in advance, where residents can read them.
- The reason on the record. Major decisions should come with a stated public reason residents can evaluate — and hold us to.