Editor
Kudos goes out to Union Wireless and Carbon County School District 2 for bringing in Craig Conrad to not only speak with the students but to share with families during the back to school picnic. I hope that the students got as much out of what he had to share as this parent did.
I am going to borrow a quote that he used that night “When it gets darkest the stars come out” this is translated to mean “Don’t lose hope”. I think that all of us have experienced those darkest nights in our lives, and if it wouldn’t have been for the stars shining overhead we would have “Lost Hope”.
I certainly have during my time as an elected official. Now don’t get me wrong anytime that you make the decision to run for a political office you open yourself up to all sorts of things. I sometimes questioned myself on why I would want to walk around with a target on my back, but after listening to Craig, I figured out the answer and that is “When it gets darkest the stars come out.” I never lost hope and always did what I felt was in the best interest of the town.
I would like to address the catch phrase “Transparency in Government” this is used not only at the local level but it moves right on up through all levels of government especially during election time. If you Google this phrase, you end up with many definitions so it is easy to find one that fits what you want it to mean. There is even one suggestion that there is no single definition of what constitutes transparency or methods for measuring it.
Wikipedia says “When government’s meetings are open to the press and the public, its budgets may be reviewed by anyone, and its laws and decisions are open to discussion, it is seen as transparent, and there is less opportunity for the authorities to abuse the system for their own interests.”
The town council meetings have always been open to the press and the public. The approved budgets have been made available to those that have asked, and budget workshops are always open to the public with only 2 or 3 people attending at any given time.
Laws and decisions are always open to discussion, with 3 readings required before they are passed. The decisions the council makes may not always go the way the public would like to see them go, but there are times that those decisions do go the way the public wants (the franchise fee) is a good example.
Prior to my tenure as mayor it wasn’t unusual to see a council meeting be over in 30-45 minutes. Not that we haven’t had some short ones but most of them have been 90 minutes or more so I truly believe the councils over the last 10 years have been very transparent. In fact with visiting with other mayors in Wyoming we are very lenient in the way that we let the public comment and participate during our meetings.
Mayor John Zeiger
Saratoga
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