GOOKIN: For county clerk

Transparency in government. We hear this phrase all the time, but what is it and why is it important?

First, and this is important, the government exists to perform functions which are desired by the majority of the citizens, but can only be achieved through a group effort. The government consists of citizens selected by the majority of citizens to perform those functions. The government should not consist of elites who think they know better than the rest of us, and does not need to keep us in the dark for our own good. The government spends our money to provide us with the things appropriate for group efforts.

This bears repeating, THE GOVERNMENT SPENDS OUR MONEY. We, through our electoral process, tell the government where we want to spend this money. We have a right to know if the people we elect, and those they hire, are spending the money the way we have a right to expect them to. This is the essence of transparency. Our current County Clerk has decided that the information concerning how our money is spent is his personal property, distributed only at his discretion. He has limited access, not only for the general public (complaining about how many requests come from the public), but from elected officials and department heads who need access to properly perform their jobs. We don’t need elitists in county government telling us they know best. Replace the dysfunctional County Clerk with someone who respects you, and will act in your best interest. Vote Dan Gookin for County Clerk.

DAVE BOTTING

Kootenai County