Transparency is Not the Same as Being Open
What does transparency really mean in local government? This piece explains why transparency in public office is not the same thing as publicly discussing every private matter on demand.
EDITORIAL
Michael Bollard
4/15/20261 min read
In public life, people often use the words transparency and openness as though they mean the same thing. They do not.
Transparency is a public duty. Openness is a personal choice.
Transparency means the public can see how government works. It means meetings are accessible, votes are public, records can be reviewed, and decisions can be examined. It is about public business being handled in a way the public can follow and judge.
Openness is something different. Openness is voluntary. It is the choice to share more than what is required, whether that involves a personal matter, a private dispute, or a legal issue that has not yet reached the proper stage for public discussion.
That distinction matters. A public official can be transparent in office without turning every private matter into a public performance. In fact, judgment sometimes requires the opposite. Not everything belongs in a public comment period. Not everything should be debated before the proper process has even played out.
Too often, the charge of “not being transparent” is really a demand for immediate disclosure on someone else’s terms. But public service does not erase the line between what the public is entitled to know about government and what belongs in the proper legal forum, at the proper time.
The public has every right to demand transparency in government. It should demand it. Residents should be able to see how decisions are made, how money is spent, and how officials conduct themselves in office. But that is not the same as demanding that every private legal matter be publicly unpacked on command.
Once transparency is stretched to mean total exposure, the word loses its value. It stops meaning accountability and starts meaning spectacle.
Good government requires transparency. It does not require public officials to surrender all discretion, all timing, or all privacy. Those are not the same thing, and pretending otherwise only weakens the conversation.
Transparency is about the public’s right to see government clearly. Openness is about a person’s choice to reveal more than duty requires. They may overlap at times, but they are not interchangeable.
- Michael Bollard, Mansfield Township Committeeman