Lenny Curry administration emphasizes its commitment to transparency

A topic of interest among reporters covering the Lenny Curry administration has been its commitment to transparency in its early stages.

Speaking Thursday with one of the most plugged-in reporters in recent Jacksonville history at city hall, he remarked upon the transparency he saw regarding the budget draft, distributed to media so they could get a sense of it prior to Monday’s presentation.

Apparently, that process wasn’t as smooth before.

The same holds true for other elements of the process, such as the entirety of the mayor’s calendar being made available on a daily basis, and plans to increase access to public record emails to the mayor from the public.

Those might seem to cynical observers to be ancillary points. However, as a recent email that promotes the newly established Inspector General’s office, sent from the mayor to city employees shows, the commitment to transparency and accountability suffuses all parts of the process.

“None of this will work without your eyes and ears,” writes the mayor, adding that his “administration will be an open, transparent and honest one.  If you see something, say something!  The IG will be investigating possible instances of waste, fraud, misconduct, or other alleged abuses by a City Official, employee, contractor, or any other parties doing business or that have a financial relationship with the City. If you become aware of any suspected fraud, theft, bribery, contract mismanagement (misuse or loss exceeding $5,000), or other violations of the law please contact the IG.”

At least one person who is familiar with the current administration and the one that proceeded it is on board. In an email to Chief of Staff Kerri Stewart, Ethics Officer Carla Miller said: “Great announcement. A new era …”

Transparency has myriad virtues. One of which is that it precludes the avoidable back-and-forth tussles between media and government regarding the flow of public information. In doing so, it allows for the framing of narratives to be managed in a way that misinformation does not run rampant.