Freshman Alabama lawmaker Paul DeMarco, R-Homewood, may be new to government, but he is helping preserve some of its oldest principles.In his first year as a state representative, DeMarco successfully passed a bill that will further the cause of open government in Alabama. The bill establishes a central source for information on the state’s boards, commissions, committees and task forces.
The bodies in question are those created by a governor’s executive order or law, which have statewide or regional jurisdiction.
Until now, those public bodies, some of which control millions of dollars, could go largely anonymous. There was no one place to find out what they are, who sits on them, when they meet and when they have a vacancy.
They are public entities – more than 300 of them – governing public issues, yet their identities and functions weren’t so public.
DeMarco’s bill requires information on them to be displayed on the Secretary of State’s Web site that will include: name and contact information, names of all appointees, their date of appointment and when their term expires plus the name and position of the appointing authority for every appointee.
It also requires posting vacancies on these boards.
The provisions of DeMarco’s bill will be displayed on the Web site by early December, and the information contained in it will be updated each year by Jan. 4.
In pushing for the bill, DeMarco cited the public’s right to know so that it has the opportunity to be involved. With no one source to find information about these boards, commissions, committees and task forces, DeMarco rightly reasoned that the public was left out of the equation.
He saw the void for the public, and he filled it.
For a novice in state government, DeMarco is making his mark as a seasoned servant of the public.
