Durham Greene County New York is a community of
2,592 persons (according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2000
Decennial Census) -- each and every one of whom has hopes and
dreams and talents and gifts and insights and strengths and struggles
and challenges. And a voice. And as citizens of the United States of
America and of The Great State of New York, each one enjoys
the rights and privileges -- and bears the responsibilities --
that come with citizenship in a democracy.
It is our
goal by this work to enable the community members of Durham
New York to work together collaboratively, openly, forthrightly,
and with integrity toward making our community one whose
citizens all enjoy a model Quality of Life enabled by
truly democratic, participatorycitizenship based
on Open & Transparent Government.
Good governance cannot be captured in a
"punch list."
Policies are not practices.
Bad policies can lead to bad practices.
Source:
U.S. Department of the Treasury Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TAX EXEMPT AND
GOVERNMENT ENTITIES (ACT) The Appropriate Role Of The Internal
Revenue Service With Respect To Tax-Exempt Organization Good
Governance Issues June 11, 2008
"...the quality of
... governance can mean the difference between cities
characterized by
prosperity and inclusiveness and cities characterized by decline and
social exclusion. ... [I]ncreased transparency at the local level
can
help in combating ... poverty and enhancing civic engagement. Promoting
transparency, through the application of a range of public
education,
public participation, e-governance, ethics and institutional reform
instruments, can:
Reduce citizen apathy, by building trust
between local governments and other stakeholders, by reducing the
opportunities for corruption at the local level, and by engaging
all
stakeholders in identifying development needs and setting
priorities;
Make service delivery contribute to poverty reduction, not only
in
improving the overall effectiveness of services, but also in terms of
making services accessible to more citizens on an equitable basis;
Increase city revenues, by increasing citizen confidence that
the taxes
collected are being used to improve the city, and by demonstrating
the
rule of law, particularly regarding contracts and property rights;
Raise ethical standards, by enhancing the quality of
political and
professional leadership and instilling a sense of public
service among
elected, appointed and potential officials."
Source:
Transparency International and United
Nations (U.N.) Human Settlements Programme Tools
to Support Transparency in Local Governance
According to the Ethics Resource Center's 2008 National
Government Ethics Survey (NGES):
"...almost two thirds of local government employees (63%) said they observed
at least one type of misconduct in the previous year."
The study also showed that of the 63% of local government employees
that had observed misconduct in their work, more than one-third
failed to act:"Local government had the highest
level of
workers who witnessed misconduct but did not report it – 34%.
That
compares with 29% at the state level and 25% within federal agencies." According
to the study, the most commonly observed types of misconduct
at the local level of government were:
Abusive behavior (26%);
Putting own interests ahead of the organization (26%); and
Internet abuse (23%)
Source:
Ethics Resource Center http://www.ethics.org/
DurhamForThePeople.org: Community Renewal and Growth
Through Open & Transparent Government
