Category: ‘Policy’

The Opposite of an Open Government

June 16, 2010 Posted by zachary

RJ Harris for US Congress 2010I completely support the idea of a government that is completely open in all its proceedings. This is one of the key points of my campaign. It is a shame to learn that there are some people that want to keep government dealings hidden from the eyes and ears of the people they are supposed to be serving.

It comes to me as no surprise to learn recently that RJ Harris was banned from all Cleveland County GOP events because he dared to allow people to post videos of a recent Straw Poll event on his Facebook and Youtube accounts.(source)

Not only was he banned for supporting openness in events leading to the State Primary, the event itself was less than open. The people running the event decided to force people to answer the poll prior to hearing either candidate speak. There is a big problem with that. People had little information going into the event and were then forced to vote in the dark so to speak. Many attendees stated they would have voted differently had they been able to vote after the event.

Is this what we as citizens of Oklahoma want? Are the people that banned RJ Harris the type of people we want leading our country? If this party does not want openness in even the primary events, will they support openness in government proceedings?

There are some people in the Republican party that support openness and RJ Harris is one of them. But there are far more people that would rather not provide the people of this state the information they need to make informed decisions.

If I am elected to State Representative, I will push strongly for openness in all government proceedings. I will work to make sure all public meetings of our government are broadcast online as well as on public television. I will work to make our bill tracking software easier to use.

Even during my campaign I will be available to answer any question you may have about my positions. Visit my contact page to find my personal email, cell phone, Twitter account, Facebook account and mailing address. I will respond in a timely manner to all requests for information.

Support openness in our election and government proceedings. Don’t let anyone deny information vital to our public good.