Hooray for Open Government

Last week was the annual Sunshine Week, a national initiative to promote the importance of open government and freedom of information.

Below is a list of best practices that the New York Coalition for Open Government (nyopengov.org) recommends that taxpayer-funded boards and agencies adopt. Adherence to these guidelines locally is hit or miss.

Advance Meeting Notices

■ We will provide notice of all meetings at least one week in advance.
■ Notices will be posted on our website and sent via email to the media and the public.

Public Access to Agendas & Documents

■ Meeting agendas and related documents will be posted at least 48 hours before meetings.
■ An online archive will be maintained for easy access to past documents.

Timely Meeting Minutes

■ Meeting minutes will be posted online within two weeks after each meeting.

Limited Use of Executive Sessions

■ Government meetings should be conducted in public.
■ Executive sessions will only be held in rare cases and in full compliance with the New York State Open Meetings Law.
■ We support requiring a two-thirds vote for executive sessions instead of a simple majority.

Public Participation

■ Members of the public will be allowed to speak before votes on both agenda and non-agenda items.
■ Participation will be allowed in person or remotely.

Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) Compliance

■ FOIL information will be prominently displayed on our website.
■ We will proactively post as much public information as possible to reduce the need for FOIL requests.
■ A user-friendly online FOIL request form will be available.

Financial Transparency

■ Elected officials should complete an Annual Financial Disclosure Form.
■ Forms will be posted publicly on our government website, just as state officials do.

No Private Political Caucus Meetings

■ While legally allowed, we will not hold private political caucus meetings.
■ There is no valid reason for local governments to discuss public business in private.

Livestreaming & Video Access

■ We support livestreaming meetings and posting video recordings online.
■ If not already implemented, we are committed to making this happen as soon as possible.

FOIL Request Processing & Reporting

■ We are committed to timely responses to FOIL requests.
■ Quarterly status reports on pending FOIL requests will be requested from the town clerk or appropriate staff.