OP-ED: Watchdog citizens deserve public officials’ respect

By Richard Eckstrom
S.C. Comptroller
March 10, 2014
 
 
It happens in every county, every small town, and every school district. It happens at the state level and at the federal level.
 
“Watchdogs” monitor the actions of government. They attend meetings. They writeletters. They ask the tough questions. They request public records under the Freedom of Information Act. Sometimes, they sound the alarm whenthey believe tax dollars have been wasted or politicians have misusedtheir power.
 
To a lot of public officials they’re a pain in theneck, and life would be a lot easier if they’d just go away.  Butwatchdog citizens serve an important purpose. They provide neededoversight for government, whether it’s a local town council, a schoolboard, or a county government. They hold politicians accountable.
 
Several instances come to my mind in which citizen-watchdogs questioned theirlocal government and made a difference in their community:

• A few years back, a Midlands woman was criticized for taking her schooldistrict to court over what she saw as her district’s violation of thestate’s Freedom of Information Act.  She was ultimately successful inher attempt to require the school district to hold its meetings in theopen.
• In one Lowcountry county, vigilant citizens sounded analarm when they began to believe their school district was unlawfullyusing taxpayer money in a campaign to sway the result of a publicreferendum on a massive school construction plan. As frequently happens, some within the school system worked to paint an unflattering portrayal of these concerned citizens. But in February, a top school districtofficial was indicted on a charge of misusing public funds for campaignpurposes.

Of course, guilt or innocence has yet to be proven. But the indictment certainly gives credence to the watchdogs’ actions.
And if it turns out the school district was, in fact, using taxpayerdollars to help pass their ballot measure, these citizens served theircommunity well by shining a light on the problem.

• One issue that’s near and dear to my heart is spending transparency.Shortly after I unveiled the state’s first Spending Transparency Website a few years ago, I launched a campaign to encourage towns, cities,counties and school districts to post their monthly spending reportsonline. Most of them initially rejected the idea; some dismissed it asbeing useless while others wrote it off as being too much work.

The idea might never have taken off if not for the individual efforts of citizen-watchdogs in communities across our state.
I remember receiving dozens of phone calls from folks who had heard about the program and wanted to know how to push their local town or countyto join. They applied pressure to local politicians, reminding thesepublic officials that spending transparency was easy and inexpensive –as well as good policy.
The fact that 35 cities, towns and countiesnow voluntarily show their spending records on the Internet is largely a testament to the valuable role these concerned citizens play.

Often, citizen-watchdogs are subjected to scorn and ridicule, even when theiractions are in the public interest. It’s a time-honored tactic for agovernmental entity to try to discredit citizens who point out problemsor express dissenting views.
 
That’s a shame. Ordinary folks whotake the time to get involved in guiding their community’s future should be respected – even cherished.

And those in public office have a particular obligation to ensure that citizen-watchdogs feel free tospeak out and ask tough questions. Their involvement ultimately makesyour government healthier, which in turn makes your community a betterplace.

 
Richard Eckstrom, a CPA, is the state’s Comptroller. He’s also Commanding General of the State Guard.