S.L. mayor unveils 'transparency' initiative

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker unveiled a 30-point plan and a new interactive Web site Tuesday aimed at making the inner workings of the city government machine more "open, inclusive, responsive and accountable for its actions."

Becker, along with a pair of City Council members, a state senator and various academics and city administrators, presented an outline billed the "Greater Transparency for a Collaborative Government Initiative" that hopes to engage constituents in partnership with municipal government.

Becker recognized the buzz-word status of transparency but offered this take on how it works as part of his new plan.

"If you think of us, in government, as having windows and doors, what we're trying to do with transparency is to provide clearer windows and more open doors for our actions," Becker said. "So, people can see more clearly into our actions ... and for people to be able to walk through the doors of Salt Lake City government."

In a first effort to entice residents through those doors, the city launched a project Web site, transparencyslcgov.com, that provides access to the work plan, a resource list, blog, forums for debate and discussion and a "wiki" page that allows direct public input in the formulation, editing and evolution of the plan. Council Chairwoman Jill Remington Love said bringing residents into the process will enhance the work being done by city government.

"Democracy works best when there's greater participation," Love said. "The greater the participation, the better the decisions ... when we take the public out of the loop, it's never our best decision."

Utah state Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, spoke in support of the city's plan and introduced the state's new financial transparency Web site, due to go online May 15. Niederhauser noted that in the midst of rough economic times spending money on new initiatives can raise opposition from those who think services will suffer, but said a bigger obstacle is engagement.

"It isn't the cost that's the barrier, it's commitment," Niederhauser said. "I applaud Salt Lake City for their commitment to this program."

The program not only looks to increase citizen involvement, but also create an overarching policy to expand electronic access to information, transmit information in a more usable and understandable format, make more extensive use of broadcast time on Ch. 17 and establish clear paths of accountability across city government.

E-mail: araymond@desnews.com