Issues - Honest Government

Backroom deals and unparalleled access by lobbyists and special interests had become a plague at San Jose City Hall by the time I was first sworn in on the Council. You heard me at Council meetings, on radio, and television demanding ethical reform of our local government and the accountability by our elected officials.

Good government does not come from behind closed doors. Effective public policy doesn’t result from politicians who are grid locked by personality conflicts, or caught in a blame game. This is your government. You deserve to know what is going on.

Communities all over the County have called for zero tolerance for unethical behavior by elected officials. Citizens want reduced influence by lobbyists and are ready for more honest local governments. We’ve made progress, but there is still a long way to go, at all levels of government.

I promised to be a catalyst for change. I’ve kept my word by chairing the Subcommittee on Ethics and Open Government, and co-chairing the Rules and Open Government Committee. I’m proud to say that these committees have made the strongest recommendations in the history of the City to make government more open, accountable and honest. In fact, we’re creating a model that could be followed by other cities in Santa Clara County.

For example, elected officials are making far fewer decisions in closed-door sessions, and when they must, they’re revealing much more detail afterwards. Another improvement is that officials are publicly discussing the details of new labor agreements before voting on them, which reduces suspicion and hearsay, leading to more transparent government.

Now, San Jose’s elected officials are posting their calendars online weekly instead of quarterly and are considering scheduling more public hearings when issues of broad city concern are up for debate. But there’s more work to be done.

For instance, there is already a law on the books called the Brown Act that prohibits closed-door meetings for city task forces, commissions and committees, but some politicians don't like it, and would rather not follow the law. Let’s hold elected officials and government employees accountable when they don’t abide by the rules.  We can also strengthen lobbyist restrictions by placing requirements on how long before former officials and their staffs can come back and influence people at City Hall who are, in some cases, the same people who first gave them their jobs.

There are still tough reforms needed, and some of the sharpest debate is yet to come. We need principled leadership, a renewed spirit of public service and resolute management. After all, the best public policy is made when elected officials are listening to the people whose lives are going to be affected by their decisions.

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