ENP STAFF REPORTS
news@eastniagarapost.com

---

Democratic mayoral candidate Roger Sherrie called for the city to adopt an Open Government Policy.

Roger Sherrie

“Giving ready access to public information is something most politicians’ give lip service to but seldom back up with policies or procedures,” Sherrie said in calling for the new policy. “Communities as far away as Oakland California and as close as the Town of Amherst have adopted policies designed to create high levels of openness and transparency in their government.”

Sherrie said if elected mayor, he would “urge adoption of the three principals of Open Government: transparency, public participation and collaboration. I think it important that we provide greater public access to information and a mechanism for public feedback and participation.”

To deal with the demands of an open government framework, Sherrie proposes creation of a citizen’s Open Government Advisory Board “that would be responsible for recommending goals and timetables for development and implementation of an Open Government Plan.” He said the plan “should detail specific actions the city needs to take to incorporate the principals of open government in its daily activities.” Sherrie envisions a plan that would be formulated “by a board of senior department heads, legal and technology leaders from the city, the general public and open government experts willing to share their knowledge and experience.”

“I don’t know if having such a policy in place would have prevented the current situation we have between the mayor and city treasurer, but it sure would have given the public access to information they are not getting from any other source”, Sherrie said.

Sherrie carries the Democrat and Working Families party lines in the Nov. 3 election for mayor. His opponent, Anne McCaffrey is running on the Republican, Conservative and Independence party lines.

---

Get breaking news delivered. 

with the ENP Mobile app for Android.