Take a bow in the sunshine

Whether they really mean to or not, some public servants shut the door on one of your most precious freedoms: Your right to know.

Fortunately, there's usually someone who's willing to stick a foot in the doorway, allowing the light of discovery to shine through.

Often that foot is attached to the body of a newspaper. In the course of a year, a newspaper like the one you're reading will politely demand to know the public's business and pursue that information vigorously. Example: Last summer we formally requested documentation from dozens of taxing entities in Kootenai County. The result was a popular series of stories listing all of the highest paid jobs in those public organizations. The good news is that almost every taxing entity responded quickly, thoroughly and even pleasantly. Only a couple had lawyers make us jump through an additional legal hoop or two. Nobody broke the law.

But here's a secret that should not be so well kept: Everything a newspaper can do to acquire information is exactly what any citizen can do to acquire that same information. A community that demands openness with government dealings and documents is an empowered community. It's empowered because accurate and complete information is a requisite to making good decisions.

In our community there are individuals who, time and again, have willingly put their foot in the way of a rapidly closing governmental door. Sometimes the foot gets smashed. Sometimes the foot ends up in a mouth. Sometimes it gets planted somewhere else: a bureaucratic behind with a well-deserved target on it.

Today marks the start of Sunshine Week across the U.S., and we can think of no better way to commemorate the occasion than by applauding the local citizens who work so tirelessly toward ensuring that the public's business isn't conducted behind closed doors with no paper trail of accountability. If these citizens are at times overzealous or unreasonable, so be it. We think that's a small price to pay in the never-ending struggle for freedom.