Letter to the Editor:
There has been a general trend toward transparent and accountable reporting for the public sector, starting with open records and the 1967 Freedom of Information Act; financial reporting addressed by the Governmental Standards Accounting Board in 1984; and performance reporting which expanded in the 1990s-2000s.
Many see this data collection and reporting as a way of improving services. However, requirements to collect and provide records also creates privacy, political, bureaucratic and budgetary concerns, risk and costs.
Ideally, leadership would:
* create a safe space for these issues to be discussed, respect the burden data collection and reporting requires, and understand the public's right to access data and reports paid for by public dollars.
* agree collaboratively to additions with the agencies involved and support improvements to systems which support the requirements ;
* support a culture of learning and provide an environment of shared accountability for what is collected, how it is used and ways it is made available to the public.
* share in the benefits/risks/rewards of these collection and reporting demands.
* consider how potentially “failing” or not meeting expectations may be the result and the related impact of this;
* hold themselves, legislative and government leaders, accountable for bad outcomes as well as good.
However, this is not happening, especially in today’s high-stakes, anti-government political culture.
Legislators and agency heads should understand local governments and institutions are burdened with these increasing demands. As well, they need to consider the impact of asking some public entities to do more reporting, while other comparable entities are asked to do less.
Finally, leaders need to pay for the added costs of their demands. Too often their requirements are down shifted costs, or unfunded mandates, which local taxpayers have to cover. The state needs to stop burdening local taxpayers with their requirements.
Karen Burnett-Kurie
Comments