As part of national Sunshine Week, members of the Madison student and professional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists fanned out across the capital city, handing out fortune cookies.
We dropped a handful in the offices of elected officials, from the Madison School Board to Gov. Scott Walker, as well as to some unelected boards such as the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents.
Each cookie contained a wise and honorable message: "You will be open and transparent when conducting public business." "You will uphold the letter and the spirit of the Wisconsin open records and open meetings laws." "A year of good fortune showers those who revere open government."
The fortune cookies and their messages serve as a reminder to those elected or appointed to do the public's business that they work for you: the voting and taxpaying public. Here are some examples from over the past year that illustrate why these Sunshine Week reminders, no matter how gimmicky, are needed: Continue>>>
======