Wink, wink: Walker celebrates ‘open and transparent’ government

Was that “tout” or “flout” the idea of an open, transparent government? Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on March 11 issued Executive Order #189 to “promote open and transparent government.”

The order was issued as a part of Sunshine Week, which takes place next week and was founded to celebrate and promote open records, access to meetings and adequate notice of hearings and forums.

The Walker administration has come under repeated fire for governing outside of the sunshine and last summer his office was involved in an attempt to gut the state’s sunshine laws.

Yet in a news release announcing the executive order, Walker claimed, “We go above and beyond what is required by the law when it comes to public records requests to make sure we are being as open and transparent as possible for our citizens. Today, we are thrilled to highlight some of the great initiatives we have put in place to ensure public access to government across all state agencies.  We continue to look for ways to better serve the people of Wisconsin.  By implementing these new initiatives, our citizens will have access to government services and processes far beyond what any previous administration has offered.”

The release said, “Walker’s office leads the way on transparent and open government.