South Carolina sees first two cities pledge financial transparency
From Sunshine Review
South Carolina transparency press conference, part 1 |
7 April 2009
Government transparency in South Carolina, which has been criticized for being behind may other states, received a large boost when its first two cities pledged to post their financial records online.
State Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom, along with South Carolina Policy Council President Ashley Landess and local government officials, held a press conference to congratulate Irmo and Columbia for their commitment to transparency. Eckstrom has been pushing local governments across the state to post financial information on a state website.[1]
[edit] First in the state
[edit] Irmo
Last January, Irmo became the first municipality in the state to post records to the state website. Irmo Mayor Pro Tem Harvey Hoots expressed pride in being the first, declaring, “The Town of Irmo is very happy to be the leader in this openness, we’ve always tried to maintain an open government. I can’t understand why any government would want to do anything different." Hoots continued, "If you want to be open and above board to your citizenry, and remember, it’s their tax dollars that we’re spending, this is the easy way to do it.”[2]
Eckstrom pointed to Irmo as an example for the rest of the state. “We wanted to partner with local governments to make this website available,” Eckstrom said. “My view is that to the extent that local governments can comply voluntarily with this movement to provide spending details, the better we’re all going to be.”[2]
Landess also praised the city for taking the step. “All of this data is public information — every bit of it is supposed to be available to the public and it is the responsibility of government to provide that information,” she said. “This is just a much easier, cleaner way to do it, it’s being done all over the country, and we’re all very glad to see that it is starting to be done in South Carolina as well.”[2]
[edit] Columbia
Although Columbia has not yet posted any financial records, Mayor Bob Coble said he is working with the comptroller to post their information online as soon as possible. Citing the city's recent accounting blunders, such as paying bills twice and losing $1 on bad investments, Coble said, “For Columbia at this particular time, this is something we must not only do but embrace.”[3]
Deputy finance director Bill Ellis said he plans to have the Columbia's financial statements posted to site before the end of April. In addition, by July, he hopes to have the city's check registry online as well. “It’s just going to be the vendor, check number and purchase order number,” Ellis said, but recognized, “You’ve got to do a lot of analysis to make useful information about that stuff.”[3]
[edit] Criticism
Some critics have said that Coble has promised transparency for years, but has not yet followed through, while others doubt how useful simply posting financial statements would actually be. The statements, normally three pages long, front and back, are filled with language that most people do not understand.
At a budget retreat in February, Ellis had to spend over an hour explaining the statements to council members. To that end, Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine stressed the need not only for posting more than just numbers. “It’s important we make it not just available, but understandable,” she said.[3]
