From the Wilmington StarNews (3/23/11): State Sen. Thom Goolsby hasn't gotten a lot of praise on these pages, but give him credit where credit is due: He has followed through on his pledge to fight for open government.
The New Hanover County Republican is among the primary sponsors of bills now in the N.C. General Assembly hat aim to make it clear that public agencies and employees work for the people.
The Sunshine Amendment, which we’ve written about before, would write into the constitution the people’s right to know what its elected officials are doing in their name. It would make it more difficult for the Honorables to restrict access to meetings or documents and strengthen the presumption that the government’s business is also the public’s business.
Goolsby also is a primary sponsor of a bill that would shine more light on the employment history and performance of public employees. Senate Bill 344, the Government Transparency Act of 2011, improves on reforms in recent sessions concerning what information about state and local government employees is public information. State Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, is also a sponsor.
North Carolina has some of the most restrictive personnel laws in the nation, and that secrecy has shielded many public employees from the consequences of incompetence or impropriety. The transparency bill that Goolsby and Rabon are sponsoring would make public an employee’s performance record as well as the reasons for suspension, demotion or other change in status.