Editor’s Memo: No Transparency, No Democracy

CITYWATCH TODAY—The idea that democracy demands transparent government isn’t complicated. The Encarta Dictionary says of the word transparent: ‘easily seen through’. That’s so easy that even LA’s City and County electeds should be able to grasp it. And yet, over the past few years these two bodies have held hundreds of secret meetings. It, as they say, begs the question … what are they hiding? Joshua Preven and Eric Preven examine the issue and conclude: It’s past time to end these secret meetings. That’s in Today’s CityWatch. 

Some other ponderables in this Labor Day posting: How much will it cost us if we elect Janice Hahn to the County Board? Why was John Vidovich really yanked off his LA Fire Marshall job? Does the seldom sung “slave” chorus of the National Anthem provide reason for Blacks to sit when the anthem is sung? 

As readers know, CityWatch is about politics. There are three articles offered currently on the subject of rape. Not rape politics so much, although that plays a part, but the current crisis nature of the misguided way we think about rape in this country. We post them because the issue is important and … it literally affects us all in one way or another. Please give these perspectives a few minutes of your time. You … all of us … are part of the problem. 

Today’s CityWatch. Let us know what you think.

Ken Draper-Editor, CityWatch

[email protected]