WHYY Reports On Progressive Agenda For Transparency
Matt Meyer makes clear that transparency on police actions would be part of that agenda:
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Matt Meyer said he supports absolute transparency in policing and would assess if more needed to be done beyond last year’s legislation, if elected governor.
“You can’t have a system where a small group of police officers and former police officers evaluate police officer conduct,” he said. “The general public needs to have the right to evaluate police officer conduct.”
The article even quotes Yours Semi-Truly:
November’s election could bring more sunlight to Delaware’s state government. Open government advocates said they expect lawmakers to take up changes to the state’s Freedom of Information Act with the support of a new administration.
About a decade ago, Delaware got an “F” for government accountability and ethics. Since then, little has been done to improve the system. Recent scandals involving government cover-ups of missing taxpayer funds and campaign finance violations have advocates ready to see change.
“I am really optimistic and hopeful that issues concerning transparency, and just concerning ethics in government, can and will be front and center this coming session,” said Steve Tanzer, political news blogger for delawareliberal.net. He’s been campaigning for progressive House candidates.
Advocates hope the new administration voters elect next month will support significant changes they’ve been clamoring for over several years. That includes reducing exemptions where documents can be withheld from the public or narrowing how agencies apply them, overhauling the police bill of rights and making legislators’ emails subject to public view.
There are a lot more items that should be part of that Transparency Agenda other than those listed in the WHYY article. I’ve started an article listing these proposals and soliciting your ideas. I’ll post it no later than tomorrow (this is my way of giving myself a non-negotiable deadline as I’ve not been making as much progress on this as I should).
Whenever I hear that “people don’t like Matt Meyer,” I can’t help but suspect it is all the right people.
I heard one longtime Democrat and BHL supporter proclaim that if he won, they would be voting for Mike Ramone and, frankly, it only made me wonder what gravy train they may have been on.
Well done article, and nice shout-out to El Som and DL.
Beyond the police, the article goes into some depth about ethics and FOIA, with quotes from Claire Snyder-Hall and John Flaherty, so you know they reached out to the right people.
Oh and a bunch of dumb-ass quotes from Mike Ramone, who comes off as not even as smart as I thought he might be.
Ramone is what I would call ‘weasel-smart’.
Matt spoke to these issues at a community event at LJ’s Daycare at 26th and Carter last night. I am hopeful that there will be real change in transparency and accountability across the board including law enforcement but also in how bids for state contracts are granted. Matt was clear that he will be a Governor for all the people.
Speaking of which, recent use of LEOBOR and a light sentence for both physical attacks, misuse of government funds, cover-up, and on and on https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2024/10/15/ex-delaware-state-police-officer-dempsey-walters-sentenced-prison-time-for-assaulting-teens/75498817007/