Public interests unprotected

Three stories illustrate the point;

• E-Mails Show Bosses Covered for Dantis, link,
• Driven by Greed, link, and
• Audit:Waiver Program Wasteful, link.

The first, and perhaps the most, legitimate use of power is
to ensure that the power cannot be abused, ever, by anyone.

Our power and resources have yet to be employed in their own protection. Nowhere in the system, is there a place where a legitimate complaint over the abuse of power, is guaranteed due process. It is not at all uncommon to see our own power and resources being used against our interests. How many millions of tax dollars are we spending to defend those who stole our resources, from the consequences of their thievery?

Inescapable accountability to unequivocal and meaningful standards of conduct and competence for politicians and public employees, would offer all of the protection our power and resource will ever have. Yet, nowhere in our history, have our politicians and public servants ever subjected themselves and their public service to honest accountability.

The most fundamental aspect of accountability is transparency. Without transparency (limited only by due process), there cannot be accountability.

The Governmental Restructuring Task Force is meeting again this month; link.

It is absurd to me, to contemplate "restructuring government" without examining standards and accountability. So far, transparent accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence for politicians and public servants, is not even on the table.

And for as long as it is not on table, we will be treated to daily headlines on public corruption and incompetence.

Someone else first wrote;

"you get the government you deserve."

Au contraire, we deserve government that is transparently
accountable to us. That we will not stand up and fight for it,
is the reason we don't have it; not that we don't "deserve" it.

It is not that we don't deserve an open and honest discussion of transparency, standards, and accountability, as part of the political discourse preceding the election of our new governor, it is that we are content to listen instead to, wall to wall negative campaign ads, and then vote, or not vote, accordingly.

To date; neither Susana Martinez nor Diane Denish has said a word about the Governmental Restructuring Task Force or about, transparent accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence within politics and public service.

If we are ever to have the government we "deserve", perhaps
we need to insist that they do.

The terms of public service are the prerogative of the public.
Fundamental among those terms; public servants are
accountable to the public, and to meaningful standards of
conduct and competence, at least for the eight measly hours
a day that we have to "trust" them with the control over
our power and our resources.