Demanding Government New Years Resolutions for 2025 (Opinion)

Well, it’s that time again, another year in the books. This year, instead of making new year resolutions that you know you’re probably going to abandon by March 1st (because let’s be honest that’s when you’ll stop going to that gym anyway), let’s instead all band together and demand some (binding) resolutions be passed by our local, state, and national governments.

Demand Better Transparency, Upfront

This year Radio Free Hub City filed close to 50 Maryland Public Information Act requests, demanding better transparency from local and state government. We are happy to say that it appears that these requests have been mostly successful, as we’re starting to see improvements in local processes and are expecting some much needed insight into government actions during the COVID pandemic, as well as better clarity on the Washington County cybersecurity “incident” on Thanksgiving Day, 2022. We’re expecting some significant drops of documents for both of these issues in the new year, and we’re looking forward to sharing what we learn with our readers.

However, we’re not going to stop there. We will continue to push for better upfront transparency, in that there’s no reason we should have to wait for two years and file multiple Public Information Act requests just to verify if information we were provided through unofficial channels is true regarding what happened during the cybersecurity incident. For example, in the last 30 days, the Treasury department experienced a cybersecurity breach, and we already know more about what happened with the Treasury department in 30 days than the County government has been able to produce in two years. We must do better.

Demand Better Accountability and Fiscal Responsibility

Towards the end of this year we’ve also started our LARGE project, analyzing unusual expenses of local and regional governments. But identifying these unusual expenses is only the first step in fixing the issue of wasteful government spending.

One story we’re currently working on is significant government (as well as consumer/resident) waste through the requirement to take out public notices through printed newspapers. This is in fact due to Maryland state laws, laws which we intend to cover in-depth and encourage our elected representatives to change. But there are other stories too, including wasteful spending on changing the names of streets due to questionable historical context, and possibly even a look at the cost effectiveness and impact of traffic control measures, including those dreaded speed bumps on Dual Highway and the speed cameras across Hagerstown and Washington County.

Demand Better Protection of Civil Liberties

We’ve seen some interesting issues arise recently, including viewpoint discrimination by local elected officials towards residents speaking at public meetings. While there have been several local incidents here in Washington County, none compare to what was seen at the Surprise, Arizona meeting in which a resident was arrested for speaking out against giving the town attorney a pay raise, an item which was specifically on the agenda for that meeting. And somehow, something tells me that we’re going to start seeing more privacy concerns over the next year, as law enforcement technology begins to evolve to include the usage of AI powered facial recognition.

Keeping the Spotlight Shining Bright

Here at Radio Free Hub City, we’re not going to stop pushing for these three important items. In fact, we’re going to begin expanding our scope beyond simply local government here in Washington County, but begin looking at State and even Federal governments.

Opinion article by Ken Buckler, President of Radio Free Hub City. Opinions are his own, and do not reflect those of our clients or sponsors.

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