The Case for Meaningful Engagement

In government, there’s a mantra that transparency builds trust. I’ve embraced this principle, wholeheartedly committing to openness. But lately, I’ve been confronting a critical question:

What happens when you share everything… and it’s still not enough?

The Commitment to Transparency

Since taking office, I’ve prioritized transparency. It’s not just a slogan – it’s an operating principle. As soon as I had my feet under me, I made sure that we shared:

• Every check written
• Every transaction recorded in QuickBooks
• Profit & Loss statements
• Trial balances
• Balance sheets
• Budget vs Actual as soon as it could be loaded
• Complete bank and credit card statements spanning years

We didn’t stop there; my administration has been working tirelessly to bring order to the chaos we inherited. The city’s financial system was a mess, with disorganized files and a patchwork of outdated practices. We’ve been pushing hard to digitize records, clean up financial systems, and make sure everything is easy to access and review.

However, as much as we’ve done to share information, we’ve come to a realization: Providing information does not automatically create understanding. At some point, the effort required to re-share what’s already been provided becomes burdensome and counterproductive.

The Problem No One Talks About: Over-Sharing vs. Engagement

We’ve opened the books. We’ve shared every transaction and every financial report. But the requests for more – more documents, more invoices, more reports – keep coming. And this is where things get tricky.

Transparency only works when there’s a corresponding effort from the other side to engage with the information. It’s one thing to receive documents, but it’s another to review them, understand the context, and ask specific, informed questions. Without that engagement, transparency turns into noise. It becomes a cycle of:

“Give me everything.”
“I gave you everything.”
“Give me more.”

At this point, it’s not about transparency – it’s about participation. And that participation isn’t just showing up at meetings – it’s engaging with the data you’ve been given, asking relevant questions, and working through the process of understanding what’s been presented.

The Hidden Cost of Redundancy

Every time a broad request for documents is made – especially when the same information has already been shared – it diverts resources and manpower away from the essential work that needs to be done. We are not just managing the city’s finances – we are cleaning up years of disorganization. Staff time is being consumed by these redundant requests rather than moving forward with the critical task of making our financial systems work efficiently and transparently.

This is where the real problem lies. Duplicative requests aren’t just a nuisance – they’re a disruption. These requests drain the very resources needed to bring the city’s operations up to date. We’ve been working to digitize records, streamline processes, and build a clearer, more reliable system for financial reporting, but those efforts are continually disrupted.

The Work Behind the Scenes

Here’s the truth: we are not sitting idly by. We are working hard to clean up the files, digitize records, and create standardized processes. We’ve reviewed multiple solutions to help with this, but unfortunately, many of these efforts have been stifled by the resistance from some council members.

We’ve started creating procedures and policies to ensure that our operations are organized and transparent. We’ve built a new Chart of Accounts that aligns with the city’s budget, and we are working to ensure compliance with GASB and GFOA standards. But the path to efficiency has been made even more difficult by the constant interruptions and demands for duplicative information.

This is not just a matter of convenience; it’s a matter of urgency. Every hour spent answering blanket requests for documents is an hour not spent improving the system.

When Council Doesn’t Participate, Operations Must Continue

When council members refuse to engage with the information they’ve been given, it is the city employees who must pick up the slack.

Day-to-day operations cannot grind to a halt because some members are choosing not to engage.

Fire, police, public works – these departments can’t afford delays.

They must continue their essential work for the community, regardless of the political chaos happening at city hall.

The city doesn’t run on documents alone. It runs on action – on leadership, on participation, and on making decisions that will move us forward. Without that participation, the only thing that happens is a stagnation of progress.

Conclusion: Participation Is Just as Important as Transparency

You can share every document, open every book, and provide every transaction detail, but if those receiving the information don’t engage with it, then sharing everything still won’t be enough. Transparency only works if there is engagement on both sides. It’s time to stop making broad, duplicative requests and start participating in the work that needs to be done. The future of Margaret depends on it.