Tom Garrity is the president of The Garrity Group Public Relations, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Let the sunshine in…

For years, the private sector has been preaching social and new media advice to government; “Come on in! The water is fine!”

The government responded by creating websites, posting pictures of elected officials, some even ventured out with (gasp!) electronic newsletters.

Many states and municipalities are taking it even further by using this opportunity to increase accountability through “transparency.” A few examples include Illinois’ Sunshine Project and New Mexico’s Sunshine Portal which provide basic information about public salaries, contracts, and related items.

It’s great fodder for residents, reporters, and politicos who are curious about how many contracts a company has or how much government employees earn.

One thing these sites don’t do, however, is weed out the incompetence of bureaucrats. (more…)