Editor’s Note: The Transparency Illusion

CITYWATCH TODAY—There's a tendency for folks to think that most of what goes on in government goes on in front of the public. After all, we call what our electeds do ‘public service’. 

We watch public meetings. Even campaigning is a public exercise. We couldn’t be more wrong. 95% of what goes on in government goes on behind closed doors. Or, at the very least, out of public view. The serious business of lobbyist influence is an example. 

You might be shocked at the access lobbyists have to your representatives. I know you would be shocked to know the tricks lobbyists use to attain that access. In a MUST READ column …the first of a new ‘Insider’ series … Dennis Hathaway provides insight into how lobbyists work and to what I’m calling the Transparency Illusion. 

In another ‘insider’ effort, Jack Humphreville lets us in on the behind the scenes maneuvering going on at Tribune Publishing … the owner of the LA Times. A power struggle that might very well lead the power brokers … to court. 

All of this … and more, in Today’s CityWatch. Check it out. Let us know what you think.

Ken Draper-Editor, CityWatch

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