There were many speakers at the meeting. With a 3 minute time limit few speakers may have got their points across. Mr. Mattison appears very deliberate --he wanted more transparency at the township and the trustees should sign a transparency promise from the Illinois Policy Institute.
4/10/12
Belvidere Township Annual Meeting
Re: Statement
Thank you Patrick and Trustees:
I was happy to see in your response to my FOI request that Belvidere Township is committed to transparency, to quote..."Belvidere Township is committed to transparency in government and to full compliance with the Freedom of Information Act."
I believe a major part of the Belvidere Township Publics' concerns are transparency--there are many other issues too--I do not have the time to list them but would be happy to review them with everyone when time permits. But, for now, I pose this question to all the Belvidere Township Elected officials relative to transparency...
Would you sign a "TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT PLEDGE"? This is authorized by the Illinois Policy Institute, an esteemed Illinois organization fostering openness in government. Please allow me the time to read it.
"I ___________________, believe that Illinois citizens deserve a more transparent and accountable government, with easy access to information about how the government spends taxpayer dollars.
Transparency legislation has served as a successful reform in numerous villages, cities, counties and states across the nation, as well as the federal level. Therefore, I will join the effort in bringing transparency to the State of Illinois in Belvidere Township and pledge to the taxpayers I will:
Support any and all efforts to implement greater transparency at all levels of government:
Support any and all efforts to implement full, comprehensive transparency in government, requiring open budget books on one, easy-access, searchable and user-friendly website. This website would include all expenditures, including contracts and grants, and would provide details of payments, their purpose and who authorized the payment;
Engage in full disclosure of all my spending decisions and make revenue and expenditure date as open, transparent, and publicly accessible as possible.
Signed_____________________________________ Date__________
Witness____________________________________ Date__________
Patrick B. Mattison
