An Open Government Starts With Accessible Meetings

In last week’s council meeting for The City of Kotzebue we passed one sole resolution, 26-39, for the election workers who will be working the polls. We also got correspondence from citizens interested in joining Parks & Recreation Advisory Council, and another one I’d like to get into on the difficulty people have had listening to broadcasts of our meetings. Considering how deep we’re in the election season this is a great topic to dig into, as the democratic process is on everyone’s mind. But we need to remember that democracy is more than going to your polling place on election day and casting your vote.

 

Democracy, as we know it, started in Ancient Greece, used as a tool by tyrants to take power over the city states. Robert’s Rules of Order, the guideline The City of Kotzebue uses for its council meetings, goes into the evolution of Democracy in this time period, going from deciding the victor through affirmation, or whichever side was the loudest, to taking a count of who stood where on an issue. A prominent Greek philosopher named Plato at the time said “Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.”

 

As long as I have served on the council it’s been difficult for people to hear what is being said in the meetings if you’re not physically there. We made a step to make our meetings at least ADA compliant, when we held them at The Youth Center that allows people to come with the wheelchair ramp. After a complaint though we moved the meetings back to City Hall, where you need to climb a set of stairs to attend. Our meetings will continue to be uncompliant with ADA standards as long as they are held at City Hall, as I don’t see anyone spending the million dollars to put in an elevator in the building.

 

Democracy is a tool and if we want our citizens to make good decisions they need to be informed. People should get to learn what their government is doing however they like to. An idea was brought up that the city council meetings can be streamed on YouTube or Facebook, and something like that should be done. If people want to listen to the meetings, they should be able to, while also getting to hear what is being said. While we do struggle while upgrading our technology, following procedures is sometimes all you need to do to make something happen, like being strict with Robert’s Rules of Order.

 

With this term with the council coming to an end, I feel disappointed that we took a step forward just to take one back, as my need for communication is not being fulfilled. But I will continue to work on expanding democracy in Northwest Alaska, as we will have more town hall events and gathering input from the people who live here in what direction they’d like to see this region go. Saying you’re an elected official just simply isn’t enough, especially when most voters don’t bother going to the polls. This tells me there’s a disconnect between the governed and the government, and this divide will not be healed until we figure out upcoming crisis we’re all in this together.