The Calaware Questions

Who wants to email the candidates and see if they agree with each of the Calaware principles below?

1. I will be second to none in supporting open government and free expression on matters of public concern.

2. I will not consent to withholding governmental information from the public unless convinced -- by publicly available legal analysis supported by specific statute or case authority -- that the information may be lawfully withheld and that failing to do so would more likely than not seriously injure an identifiable public or private interest. I will always insist on hearing -- publicly -- what is the worst case possible resulting from public disclosure.

3. I will not consent to holding meetings that exclude public attendance unless convinced -- by publicly available legal analysis supported by specific statute or case authority -- that excluding the public is lawfully permitted and that failing to do so would more likely than not seriously injure an identifiable public or private interest. I will always insist on hearing -- publicly -- what is the worst case possible resulting from public attendance.

4. In attending meetings of the body I have been elected to, I will use no electronic communications technology until the means have been installed to record and store all voice messages for subsequent public review and to display in real time and in the same room, all text messages or other traffic on the device I am using.

5. I will resist any attempt to prevent particular persons from voicing particular views, or to shut down public communication generally without excellent reason and readily available equivalent opportunities, whether in general public forums such as the streets, the plazas and the parks or in speech-dedicated forums such as government meetings.

6. As tempting as private briefings on pending meeting topics may be, I will decline to accept them from staff on any routine basis, and will instead be prepared to "ask the dumb questions" publicly, in the open meeting, for the benefit of the public's understanding.

7. I will do whatever I can to see that officers and employees of my agency understand the laws protecting whistleblowers and that a whistleblower hotline is maintained to receive and process reports of improper governmental activity, protecting the identity of the reporting party to the maximum extent permitted by law.

8. I will fully support citizens' efforts to draft, publicize, circulate and enact a sunshine ordinance that makes my agency more accommodating to public access, information and participation than under the minimum standards in the Brown Act and the California Public Records Act.

9. I will insist that the following financial data pertaining to the relevant officers and employees of my agency be posted on the agency's website and updated within five days of any changes, and until this disclosure practice is adopted, I will make my own data available on a personal website I will launch and maintain at my own expense:
• A summary of all compensation and benefits in all forms.
• The Form 700 Statement of Economic Interests.
• Any campaign contributions received, with all information required to be disclosed by the Political Reform Act.
• All agency credit card statements and/or annotated expense reimbursement claims.

10. I will do what I can to see that the immediacy, economy, convenience and power of all forms of electronic communication are devoted to the inclusion and involvement of the people in their own government, and never to their exclusion and alienation.