For anyone wanting to look at documents or supporting information on an issue before a governing body acts on it during a meeting, the city councils in Green River and Rock Springs have them covered.
A few days prior to a meeting, both cities will post the entire council packet online, which allows residents a chance to read about not only what the councils will vote on, but a chance to see the background information involved with specific issues. It helps create an informed resident on issues they’re passionate about. Making those packets public also gives residents a chance to read information about a council item and later comment on the item during the council’s meeting, prior to a decision being made. Both cities should be commended on their commitment to maintaining transparency through making those council packets available to the public.
However, the same can’t be said of the Sweetwater County Commissioners. Like the city councils, the commissioners receive information packets prior to their meetings, filled with information regarding the different items the commissioners will discuss and act on in their meeting. Yet, they’re not made available for public viewing until after the commissioners finish their meeting.
Those packets should be made available prior to the county commissioners’ meetings. One could argue the packets may contain sensitive information not intended for public dissemination. Information about a land transaction, legal issue or other topic that allows for private executive sessions may get released and hurt the county’s position on the issue, the argument goes. Yet, we believe that argument doesn’t hold water.
Why can’t that sensitive information be removed prior to posting the meeting packet online? In the digital age we’re living in, it’s a rather simple operation to delete pages from an Adobe PDF document. With that in mind, there isn’t any reason the county shouldn’t withhold those commission packets until after their meetings.
We’re always going to side with making more information available to the public. While we admit there are instances where releasing certain information can hurt a government agency’s position, those instances are the exceptions, not the rule. As such, we think the county should follow the city councils’ lead in releasing their meeting documents prior to their meetings.
It will help educate residents interested in county government and allow them to make educated arguments for issues they both support and oppose.
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