There are 4 fundamental pillars of open government – transparency and access; timely notification; proactive public participation; and official accountability.  Together they effectively put the citizenry in the middle of their government where they can monitor and oversee the governance process while at the same time providing a means for direct input into the decision making process.

Transparency and access – Having access to public information and an ability to monitor the workings of government (being able to attend meetings, review records, and continuously monitor the governing and decision making processes) are essential to open government.  To be effective, unified information standards need to apply across the public sector; free access to public information must be available via technologies in general use; loopholes and practices that hide information from the public must be disallowed; and the ability to attend all meetings that are deemed to be “public” needs to be expanded through the use of modern technologies.

Timely Notification – Being able to get information isn’t helpful if people aren’t aware of something that may affect them or if they find out too late.  Current notification is usually inadequate and doesn’t utilize the possibilities of today’s technologies.  People need timely notification about matters that may affect their concerns before decisions are made, and they need time to act before something takes effect.  The items that require public notice and the methods of notification need to be increased. Adequate time to make informed public comment and for people to act to protect their interests must be provided.  A personalized notification process needs to be established where people can register what they wish to be notified about and be informed whenever it’s first discussed.  Whenever new information becomes available that affects consideration of a matter, re-notification must also be required.

Proactive Public participation – Knowing, even if timely, is of little use if people can’t deal effectively with their government. A better means is needed for interacting with public officials and bringing matters to their attention in order to ensure things are effectively addressed.  Recognizing that public officials have limited bandwidth, the public needs a framework and tools for pro-active public participation that reaches across the entire public sector, including authorities, commissions, boards, etc.  A single organized body of citizens spanning the political jurisdiction is necessary – with participation open to virtually everybody at any time (provided they don’t have a conflict of interest); with rules of order providing for deliberation and discussion among those with different perspectives; with legislation and administrative actions presented by governmental staff, explained, and questions answered; with citizens able to work on their own proposals; if requested, with the legislative body and administration required to attend citizen presentations on matters before their approval; and with a means for participants to effectively educate and inform the larger citizenry about public issues.

Official Accountability – There needs to be an official independent entity having oversight of and responsibility for all aspects of open governance.  Acting as an overlay of the entire public sector, its role would be to ensure compliance with all open government requirements.  It would assist, educate, and support open governance practices throughout the public sector; it would receive, assess, and fulfill FOIA and Right to Know requests; and it would promote, administer, and provide logistical support and assistance for effective proactive public participation.  The office would have a dual role of ombudsman and an Inspector General with oversight of government practices, investigating problems, making recommendations to Borough Council, and helping individuals interact with their government.  In addition, there needs to be a fair and balanced process that provides the citizenry with legal recourse should it become necessary for citizens to pursue enforcement of compliance with open government provisions through the courts.

These then are the 4 essential components necessary in order to have truly open government.  Together they constitute a model for municipal open government that Wilkinsburg residents can implement through the home rule process.