The Marin County Civil Grand Jury has done
local public agencies a favor, providing them with a clear template on how they
can meet the needs of their constituents.
In in latest report, the grand jury reviewed
the websites of 126 local governmental agencies and graded them based on
information the public needs to stay informed.
Given that those agencies have themselves
decided what information the public needs, it was not much of a surprise that
64 of them got failing grades in the “report card” the jury used in its review
— even after the grand jury gave them the chance to improve their websites.
The grand jury found that a majority of the
sites were out of compliance with state open-government laws and a majority
failed to post the annual public compensation of elected officials and
employees, even though it has been required since Jan. 1, 2015.
Particularly surprising was the poor grades
the grand jury handed out to local school districts, some of which failed to
even post their budgets so taxpayers can see how their tax dollars are being
spent.
Many did not provide online access to public
records and reports that would be helpful in keeping them informed, let alone
post down-loadable request forms for public records requests.
“F’s” were handed out to the Reed, San Rafael,
Sausalito, Shoreline, Union, Bolinas-Stinson, Laguna, Lagunitas, Lincoln and
Nicasio school districts. Tamalpais Union High School District got a “D-”
grade, as did Ross. The College of Marin and the Kentfield School District got
“C-” grades.
These districts need only to look to the
Novato Unified School District and learn how to earn an “A-.”
School districts, given their younger
computer-savvy constituencies and classroom focus on technology, should be the
examples of what can be done, not what isn’t being done.
The Marin Healthcare District, for which local
voters in 2013 endorsed a $500 million bond measure to rebuild, renovate and
improve Marin General Hospital, got a disappointing “D.” The voters’
endorsement of that bond measure deserves better.
The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit got a “C-,”
as did Marin Clean Energy, the local public power agency.
In its report, the grand jury cited a 2015 Pew
Research Center report that said that over a 12-month period, 65 percent of
Americans have used the Internet to find information pertaining to government.
Local government shouldn’t be in the business
of making it more difficult. Its constituents shouldn’t have to be tenacious
sleuths to find public information.
“Residents should be able to easily find the
description of services provided, the names and contact information of board
members and management, the budget, agenda and minutes of meetings and other
information,” the grand jury said.
That’s not too much to ask — or expect.
Even the grand jury wasn’t perfect, missing
two of Marin’s largest public agencies — the Marin County Office of Education
and the Transportation Authority of Marin. TAM, for instance, collects nearly
$25 million per year in local sales tax revenue and is governed by a 15-member
board. The county schools office’s annual budget is around $20 million. Both
agencies should do some self-evaluation and make improvements.
The grand jury has provided a rubric — a
checklist of minimum features local public agency websites should include.
The grand jury even recommends that every
website include a down-loadable form for public records requests, but agencies
should go a step future, making sure that staff and consultant reports that
factor in current deliberations are posted and easily accessed.
Too often, they are not available or hard to
find.
Oddly, many Marin school districts don’t even
post their state-required School Accountability Report Card, detailed
assessments of local schools and plans for addressing them. Too often, they are
not available or hard to find.
In fact, the grand jury should take a look at
its website, post its membership and its budget.
In the end, the grand jury has done a public
service. Its report deserves an “A” and its hard work and findings should
prompt local agencies to make improvements.
April 2, 2016
Marin
Independent Journal
Editorial
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