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Glad to see transparency from county

Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act has its weaknesses, but one of its strengths is a clause that says a government must make all documents it provides to one requester available to all who’d like to see it.

And, since the original requester paid for the documents and waited for them to be processed, subsequent requesters don’t have to.

Alpena County has really gotten into the spirit of that part of the law and made a computer terminal available in the lobby of its courthouse so residents can view previously released documents.

Government documents can provide all kinds of information about the behavior and motivations of government officials, who ought to be held accountable to the people who put them in power. And those people need information to effectively hold the powerful to account.

In a recent edition of The News, for example, public documents and information were used to show Northeast Michigan water rates are more affordable than in bigger American cities and that school superintendents in the area make middling salaries when compared to their peers statewide.

Such information properly arms residents to make informed decisions at the ballot box and about whether they want to get involved in other ways or exercise their right to air grievances to their government.

We are in favor of any effort to make it easier to access that information, and we applaud Alpena County for its transparency.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)

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