Op-Ed: The Danger of Ignoring Transparency and Accountability

+CHAOS- a NH vanity plate I saw this week reminded me of the effects of underinvesting in our democracy and the ensuing lack of trust and transparency. With the 2024 election days away, the issues being debated can be boiled down to how one defines freedom, investing in a sustainable economy, and the role of government. Integrity and ethics are also on voter minds – and not just for the top of the ticket.

Lingering in the background is our steady decline of trust in government and those we entrust (elected or appointed) to run it.

A 2023 Pew Research Center study finds that:

• Approximately 65 percent of Americans say they always, or often, feel exhausted thinking about politics.
• Only 4 percent say the political system is working well.
• Just 16 percent say they trust the federal government always or most of the time. And trust is at the lowest in “nearly seven decades.”

We used to trust local and national newspapers to do the job of keeping us informed but the internet took away all that. Yes, there are a few who can do some of the work but far too often what we see is copy and paste press release journalism.

In New Hampshire, the costs of a lack of accountability and transparency are adding up and rarely make the headlines. Here are some examples.

• It is almost impossible to get straight answers from the board head of the Pease Development Authority, under a cloud of suspicion recently, to explain the sweetheart no bid deals C & J Trailways and Port City Air have on public land with a publicly funded infrastructure. Will the revenues for a proposed parking deal go to the public to pay down debt or to the private operator? And how did the Director of Ports and Harbors matter stay so quiet since the Spring with growing consequences?
• The New Hampshire state budget has been kept afloat in recent years by the questionable use of federal Covid pandemic funds. Retiring Gov. Sununu appears not to mind leaving the looming budget mess for his successor as he heads out the door and attempts to feather the nests of private developers at the Laconia State School site and Rye Harbor.
• As public-school communities fight again in the state Supreme Court for equitable funding, voucher funding continues to rise ($28 million for 2024-25 alone) with almost zero accountability. Since 2021, more than $73 million has been drained from public school funding for the Orwellian-named Education Freedom Accounts for home schooling and private and religious schools. There is no public data available on where this money has gone. Department of Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut is missing in action when it comes to accountability for one of his pet projects and a significant public expense.

President Ronald Reagan left us with one of the memorable phrases of the late 20th Century when he said “trust but verify” about the intentions of the Soviet Union, our Cold War enemy. But what happens when you can neither trust nor verify leaders who use their authority to avoid accountability?

The good news in the Pew study is that despite growing fear, anger and cynicism, Americans continued to vote in record numbers in the elections of 2018, 2020, and 2022. In 2024 a flood of smart, young, and energized voters will show up at the polls to vote for the first time.

“The survey does have some good news,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. “If you landed from Mars and looked at the survey, you would say, ‘This is really dismal.’ But the fact that a reasonable percentage of people still think their vote makes a difference—that is really important. If you are giving up on the system—that is, if you don’t think there is any chance it is going to change—then you are in a far worse place.”

I am slated to work the local polls on November 5th and look forward to seeing you because your vote and voice matters.

Tom Sedoric lives in Rye.

InDepthNH.org takes no position on political matters, but advocates for government transparency and welcomes diverse opinions at nancywestnews@gmail.com