The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be,
secure, when the transactions of their rulers
may be concealed from them.
~Patrick Henry
A popular government, without popular information,
or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue
to a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps both.
~James Madison
Did you know that we celebrated National Sunshine Week a few weeks ago? Established in 2005, Sunshine Week is an annual opportunity for the press to educate members of the public about how important it is to fight for and maintain an open government – and conversely, to remind us how dangerous it is when the government engages in unnecessary secrecy. Even though just one week is set aside for recognition, the fight for open government goes on every day, not just in our own country but also across the world. Sadly, our local government still chooses to hide information from us rather than operate in an open and transparent manner (so I guess you could say that the weather is still kind of cloudy in the City of the Village of Clarkston, despite Sunshine Week).
Sunshine Week 2022 was very special for me because that’s when I learned that Senator Ed McBroom and I had been selected by the Michigan Coalition for Open Government to receive the Jane Briggs-Bunting Transparency in Government Award. How awesome is that? I had no clue that I was even being considered for such an honor!
Ms. Briggs-Bunting was a zealous advocate for open government and the first amendment. I am deeply flattered to receive an award that bears her name. The award was created to “honor the work of citizens who fight for better public access to government.”
Unfortunately, she left us all too soon last year. Here is a link to a wonderful tribute to her from Free Press reporter John Wisely that will give you an idea what an amazing woman Ms. Briggs-Bunting was and what we all lost with her passing:
Ms. Briggs-Bunting was also the first person to receive her namesake award, and this article explains more about why the award was created:
News release: Jane Briggs-Bunting honored for open government advocacy (miopengov.org)
Here is a link to learn more about the Michigan Coalition for Open Government:
https://miopengov.org/about-us-2/
Finally, here is the press release from the Michigan Press Association announcing that Senator McBroom and I received the award:
I was asked for a quote, and it is included in the press release. There were many people to thank, and I hope I didn’t miss anyone. But you know, I did leave out one rather large group of people, and I would be remiss if I didn’t also recognize them as well.
So, without further ado, I’d like to extend a special thanks to the Clarkston mayor; select current and former members of the Clarkston city council; the city attorney; the Michigan Municipal League, the Michigan Townships Association, the Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys, including all of their respective board members; and last, but certainly not least, the insurance-funded attorneys who handled my FOIA lawsuit on behalf of the city. Together, they managed to parlay a simple legal question – whether the documents I asked for were public records – into a lawsuit that resulted in an estimated $700,000 in attorneys’ fees alone, involuntarily and indirectly funded by taxpayers throughout Michigan. Without their valiant efforts to fight for the claimed “right” to hide public documents in off-site files (and to win at all costs), I would never be where I am today, a proud recipient of an award named for a champion of transparency.
You know, one of my fondest dreams is for Clarkston government to make clarkstonsunshine.com and clarkstonsecrets.com unnecessary because our city officials choose to be so transparent that you can almost see through the walls of city hall.
But until that happens, I’ll be here – watching, writing, and shining sunlight – when they’re not.
My personal thanks to Susan and Richard Bisio as it is highly unlikely the city would have ever been legally challenged on their secrecy if not for them.
As an aside, at the city council’s April 11, 2022 meeting, there will be a discussion about council rules and procedures. In the proposed rules, authored anonymously, there is nothing about better informing the public about what the city is doing. Nothing about the actions taken over the last year to communicate during a pandemic and with those who for whatever reason cannot attend meetings. As noted, it is still a bit cloudy in the City of the Village of Clarkston.
Congratulations again to Susan, and to all those that peacefully and legally question those that govern.
Could not be happier for you!
I was at U-D with JBB in the Jrn program & would have followed in her legal footsteps but did an old-fashioned pivot into married life instead. Started career as a journalist while husband went on to great things. (Never regretted it). She was a force with which to be reckoned & so are you. Congrats!
Thank you for the kind words!
I know of no one who is more deserving of the Jane Briggs-Bunting Transparency in Government Award than you Susan Bisio.
You make “doing the right thing” a very honorable and courageous endeavor to pursue for 5 years.
You are a HERO and CHAMPION
of the TRUTH!