I am excited about the next two years. Leading the North Carolina Open Government Coalition will be a rewarding challenge for me and, I hope, the people of our state. I have several goals for my tenure I wanted to share in my first column.
The first is to make us a true coalition. Currently, participation in our organization by governmental bodies is not where it needs to be. The addition of Sue Rowland, Cary’s Town Clerk, to our Board of Directors is an important first step, but it is only the first step of a long journey in relationship building. I hope to see us mount an outreach to elected officials and government employees across North Carolina. A good teacher is also a good listener. While we continue educational efforts about our open meetings and public records laws, we must also listen to the challenges those laws place on the people responsible for compliance.
What can the coalition do to identify roadblocks to compliance and work to knock them down? Likewise, what are we doing to tell our story to the elected officials and voters of our state? The better job we do making people aware of us as a resource, the more disciples we’ll have. And last, but certainly not least, we must continue aggressively pursuing fundraising. We passed a critical milestone earlier this year qualifying for a matching grant from the Knight Foundation. Our existing half-million dollar endowment will provide minimal operating funds. However, to meet our long term goal of a full time director and a robust programming budget, we must more than double that endowment to fund the vision we all have for our Sunshine Center.
I will do my best to work with your board to accomplish these goals. I look forward to the adventure.
Rick Willis
President, North Carolina Open Government Coalition
News Director
News 14 Carolina