When you go to a meeting of elected officials, wouldn’t you like to know what they are looking at as they sometimes seem to use shorthand while discussing the public’s business?

It costs some money, not to mention the effort to put together the packets of information that the Sheriff’s Department used to deliver to my Dad’s home every Friday before the Tuesday meeting.

Now, some local governments have given their elected officials laptop computers into which the packet information is downloaded.

With the advent of the internet, some local tax districts have not only figured out they could provide the memos and documents to be considered at the next meeting to board members, but they can also provide it to the taxpayer public.

It took McHenry County College ever so long and much prodding to convince the board that such openness—some call it “transparency”–should be allowed.

It’s not transparent enough, because the MCC administration has still not put up any information about the 1,500 foot tower BMB Communications Management proposes to place on 3.6 acres of college land, if permitted to buy it for $6 million.

MCC has not even sent out a press release. The only one came from BMB, which, astoundingly, gave the first indication of next Wednesday’s special 7 PM board meeting.

Talk about a public entity being co-opted by a profit making entity!

But, it’s better than it used to be.

And the Carpentersville School District 300 and Huntley School District 158 regularly post such information prior to meeting.

On Crystal Lake’s newly re-vamped web site, there is not even a place for the board packet.

You can get your agenda and, after a while, get your minutes, according to the page you see above.

Compare the MCC page about meetings with the Crystal Lake page.

Notice the missing column.

Elections are time for change.

Even when the challengers don’t win, they can often get the incumbents nervous enough to promise to do good things.

Maybe some city council challengers will push for publication of not only agendas and minutes, but the guts of city council, planning and zoning commission meetings, etc.:

= = = =
The 1,500 foot Daytona Beach television broadcast tower you see is held up by guyed (guy) wires. It is not self supporting as the one BMB Communications Management is proposing. The tower photo you see is re-produced with permission from Wireless Estimator.com. If you would like to see time lapse photos of how such a tower is erected, you can do so by clicking here. The alternating colored sections of the tower are each 100 feet.

Bill Pysson, who writes Boone County Watchdog, figured out a way to make the aerial’s picture larger. I wish I knew how to wrap text around it.