Making them famous: The Accountability Project

Anyone who has been following John McCain’s presidential campaign has probably heard his stump speech where he rails against wasteful “pork barrel” spending through earmarks. He declares that he will fight that spending by vetoing bills that contain earmarks, and he will “name the names of the congress members who requested the earmarks” ... and “make them famous”.

Don’t you think its about time that we made local politicians who serve the people faithfully, of who act contrary to the public interest become “famous”? I do. Naming their names and making them famous is the whole idea of “The Accountability Project”.

The first undertaking of The Accountability Project is to create and maintain a public website where the public can log on and document and then discuss the performance of public officials. You can find that site here or use the link at the bottom of this page. Initially, the site is devoted to the Loudon County Board of Education and the central office – because I think that is where we need accountability most urgently – but if you would like to have other officials (county government, city government, etc.) included, just let me know who you want a forum for, and we’ll set it up.

You can register to the site (though you do not need to do so in order to post) and record your experience with the public officials, or discuss a posting that someone else made. The forums are setup by group. You’ll see when you visit.

If an official does something you approve of, report it for discussion. If an official does something you do not approve of, then report that for discussion. Either way, when it comes time for re-election, or for extending employment of officials, there will be a persistent record of the experience that people have had.

Please keep it civil and relevant. I know I’m as guilty as the next person when it comes to reducing a substantive disagreement about an issue or an official to a person duel. I’m going to avoid that and hope that you will to.

Finally, this works best when everyone contributes. Lets recognize the officials that are serving us well – and those who aren’t.