Community Corner

Get Smart About the Public's Right to Know

Los Alamitos-Seal Beach Patch is participating in Sunshine Week by promoting and celebrating open government and freedom of information.

Sunshine Week was launched in 2005 by the American Society of Newspaper Editors to promote discussion about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants in this national initiative include the news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofit groups, schools and others interested in the public's right to know.

So join Los Alamitos-Seal Beach Patch in spreading a little sunshine. The following action plan is from Sunshineweek.org: 

Start with a Sunshine Week Open Government Proclamation 

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In recognizing earlier Sunshine Weeks, many public officials around the country issued proclamations extolling openness in government. A few introduced significant open government legislation or signed executive orders. It’s time the pronouncements become actions and the few become the many. 

This Sunshine Week, we urge citizens to press their public officials to do more, seeking not just broad statements of support for greater transparency but specific pledges and plans of action to enhance the public’s right to know.

Sunshine Week 2011 can be a time when you as a citizen or civic organization make a difference by identifying local or state open government shortcomings and then asking your public officials to pledge and initiate specific improvements in local or state law and practice.

To assist your efforts, the Sunshine Week team presents a sample Open Government Proclamation that you, or your group, can take to your public officials to seek a commitment on open government with specific action that will lead to increased openness. Like all proclamations, it begins with a general statement of the benefits of open government at every level.

That is followed by a sampling of open government provisions that brought greater transparency to local and state governments around the country. We offer these as examples of the kind of specific action that may be needed in and appropriate for your community or state.  We also hope these examples will inspire ideas for other openness measures that may be needed in your community or state.

We hope you will find these useful in considering what sunshine commitments are needed in your government and in crafting a specific proclamation and action pledge to present to your public officials.

Let us know if you are successful by contacting dmk@asne.org and writing "Sunshine Week Proclamation" in the subject line. If your government’s action was reported by the media, send along the link(s). We plan an “Honor Roll” on this website of government entities that adopt Sunshine Week open government pledges and/or take specific actions. 

Here is the Sunshine Week Open Government Proclamation PDF and a link: sunshineweek.org/proclamation.aspx

Play the You’re A Ray of Sunshine Game

Find out what's happening in Los Alamitos-Seal Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Sunshine Week team designed this game to challenge you, help you have some fun and learn about why open government and freedom of information in the U.S. is to be cherished and held to high standards. Play it here. game.sunshineweek.org/

The week, March 13-19, is funded primarily by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation of Miami, along with the ASNE Foundation. There are games, proclamations and more all brought to you by the Sunshine Week team, which we have shared with you. 

Click here for resources for teachers, including lesson plans so young people can participate.  

For more information about Sunshine Week, go to sunshineweek.org.

We hope you join us at Lake Forest Patch and spread a little sunshine around town


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