The Opinion Blog

More ideas for openness

Friday’s editorial highlights some of the initiatives pending in the S.C. legislature to increase openness in government.

For a wide-ranging primer on the ideas knocking around the state legislature, it's tough to do better than “The S.C. General Assembly: Best and Worst of 2009,” a report compiled in September by the S.C. Policy Council.

The Columbia think tank's zeal for shrinking government sometimes leads it to conclusions many voters may find impractical, such as their recent opposition to both the federal wind-turbine grant to Clemson and the tax credits that brought Boeing to Charleston. But when it comes to openness in government, the S.C. Policy Council often stands at the forefront of the discussion.

Try a Little Openness

Saturday’s lead editorial is a reminder than in its second round, the Horry County Council’s search for a new administrator should have the transparency the first round mostly lacked.

Though the process improved toward the end, taxpayers don't know exactly what led their representatives on the Horry County Council to a stalemate in choosing a new county administrator and the subsequent need to interview a new set of candidates. Citizens are largely in the dark on the why and how because the process was kept secret until this week, when three semifinalists were interviewed publicly.

Back in the sunshine

Thursday’s lead editorial praises Horry County for two recent decisions opening its hiring process to the public and placing its spending records online.

On the heels of the troubling way the Horry County Council conducted the first part of its search for a new county administrator, the news last week that the county has joined the growing group of local governments to put all its spending online is welcome indeed.

Add to that the county's more recent decision to open the remainder of the administrator-search to the public, and we feel much more confident about the entire process than we did only a few days ago.

Shameful Secrecy

Sunday’s editorial criticizes the Horry County Council for an absolute lack of transparency in their search for a new administrator – to the point of breaking state law.

The Horry County Council's search for a new administrator has been fraught with secrecy in so many ways that it's hard now not to wonder what else they are planning when the public isn't watching.

Cracking Open the School Books

Friday’s editorial applauds a new state law that requires schools to post their spending online.

Following an emerging and highly laudable trend, the Grand Strand has seen a number of its local governments begin regularly posting their spending records online for anyone to see: first Myrtle Beach, followed quickly by Surfside Beach, and most recently the city of Georgetown.

Soon, thanks to a litlte-noticed but likewise commendable new provision in state law, they will be joined by some of the area's largest governing bodies: local school boards.

Mystery Money

Sunday’s article calls for the end of corporate campaign contributions in South Carolina (as in federal elections and more than 20 other states), using the recent upset over contributions in Myrtle Beach as an example.

The hundreds of mysterious $1,000 donations to local politicians that have caused such stir over the last two weeks are, as The Sun News has reported, both legal and commonplace in South Carolina.

And, frankly, a little repulsive.

More Online Sunshine

Sunday’s editorial praises Georgetown for becoming the latest city to put its financial records online, and polls other local governments that have yet to do so about their plans.

Local advocates of open government got a double helping of good news in recent weeks. First, state Comptroller Richard Eckstrom stopped in Myrtle Beach to congratulate that city and Surfside Beach to be among the first local governments in the state to begin regularly posting a record of all their spending online. Almost immediately afterward, the city of Georgetown announced that it, too, would join the growing statewide push for a very simple form of transparency.

That Pesky $10

Thursday’s editorial suggests lawmakers revamp the mechanism to pay for low-level dispute mediation within homeowners’ associations.

Not all the ire against the S.C. Homeowners' Association Act is warranted, but lawmakers who support it could do us all a favor by removing the component that seems to draw the most heat: a $10 fee added to every unit or lot across the state.

Show Us Your Work

Friday's editorial praises N.C. Gov. Beverly Perdue for her efforts to preserve openness in North Carolina government and encourages South Carolina lawmakers to follow her example.

Transparency in government was a buzzword in most of last year's campaigns - a promise that's easy for candidates to make on the trail and quickly forget once in office. If N.C. Gov. Beverly Perdue's first veto is any indication, however, she may be one politician who meant what she said.

Scandal Shows Need for Real Ethics Reform

Sunday's editorial suggest that some good could come out of the Sanford scandal after all: strong ethics reform to remove the gray areas where he is currently fighting to retain his job.

Gov. Mark Sanford's new full-time job of throwing statewide pity parties for himself is disturbing in its own right, but one protest he repeats ad nauseum has been particularly jarring: Everyone else does it, so why can't he?