Yoon says city records should be an open book
In the wake of bribery indictments against state Senator Diane Wilkerson and City Councilor Chuck Turner, Councilor at Large Sam Yoon says the city can no longer do business as usual or allow the public perception to linger that deals are brokered over restaurant lunches or in clandestine meetings away from the public eye.
Last month, Yoon introduced a resolution before the council urging Boston to post important details about the activities and composition of various committees, boards, and commissions on the city's website.
The measure, which is not binding, passed unanimously on Dec. 17.
Yoon, who has stated that he is considering a run for mayor, said he found it ridiculous that citizens have not been able to get a full list of people who serve on about 30 city boards and committees, such as the liquor licensing board, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and the School Committee; see the length of appointment terms; or view meeting schedules, agendas, and minutes with a simple click of the mouse. Some defended the long-standing practice, he said, arguing that it protects the privacy of city workers.
"No one who serves the community on a board or commission should serve in anonymity," he said. "People have a right to know what their city government does. Not just a right, they have a need to know. We shouldn't be operating in secret and behind closed doors."
But efforts to extend that same transparency to the council's own deliberations have run into a snag. Yoon said he had also intended to propose an ordinance that would require the council to publish substantive minutes of its meetings on the Internet, but was told by lawyers working for the council that a little-known 1947 law dating back to the scandal-plagued tenure of Mayor James M. Curley prohibits spending money to make such information available other than in the city's official publication, the City Record.
The law seems to run counter to the spirit of the 1958 Open Meeting Law and appears to have been crafted to shield politicians from closer public scrutiny, not bring more openness to the process, said Yoon.
Though fairly detailed accounts of various council debates and votes are posted on Boston's internal website for city employees to view, and a video library of council debates is available on the city's public website, written versions of the meetings on the public website omit the give-and-take between councilors and include little specific information, such as how each councilor voted, what issues were contested before a vote took place, or what councilors said in support of or opposition to a measure.
Yoon said a more thorough written account would offer better access to people interested in an issue who don't have time to sift through video testimony looking for debate on that topic.
Though each department largely decides which information gets posted to the city's website, a central Web team coordinates online publishing, said William Oates, Boston's chief information officer.
To streamline that effort, the city's Management and Information Services Department began rolling out a program in 2008 to better manage content, he said. The $200,000 effort will allow departments to post more information at a faster clip and will help them track items that haven't been updated in a while, so information doesn't get stale.
"It gives us a better capability of getting more on there and keeping it fresh" while eliminating data bottlenecks, said Oates.
When lawmakers reconvene on Beacon Hill this week, Yoon said he intends to file a home-rule petition with the Legislature to overturn the 1947 law. To pass, the measure requires a majority approval of both House and Senate, as well as the governor's signature.
"We absolutely have to change the way government operates," said Yoon. "Debate about the public interest should happen in full view of the public. People have a right to know this." 