A blog posting by Jefferson County Administrator Jim Moore
Complete and accurate information is the best antidote to the spin and sometimes deliberate misinformation that has become far too commonplace in our world today. The most powerful force in a representative democracy is a well-informed and engaged citizenry. That’s what Transparent Jeffco is all about.
We at Jefferson County see transparency as a promise to our citizens to conduct county business honestly, openly and forthrightly, so citizens know exactly what goes on when public officials transact business on their behalf. It is a promise of accountability and nothing facilitates better government than openness and accountability.
Transparency also empowers citizens. It gives them the ability to participate in government. We are a better, more effective government when we have citizens who participate in the process, helping to determine priorities for public spending, and holding county leaders accountable for decisions that touch their lives.
To be committed to transparency, we must have the right processes and tools in place to ensure that transparency exists as a practical function. That is what Transparent Jeffco is – an initiative designed to give citizens easy and immediate access to the county information they need via the Internet, as well as the power to influence what type of information is available.
Transparent Jeffco is not meant to be a substitute for face-to-face interactions between the county’s leaders and the citizenry - it is meant to enhance that relationship. It is intended to give citizens access to the kind of information that will help them become more involved and to provide feedback on our decisions and actions.
Transparency requires the participation of both government officials and citizens to be successful. We need citizens to share their priorities, concerns and thoughts. That’s where this blog, as well as the survey and form come in.
Please let us know your priorities, which services the county provides are most important to you and what types of information you need to see more of in order to gain a better understanding of Jeffco operations.
We are very interested in hearing your feedback, so let us know what you think.
Thank you,
Jim Moore
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Posted by OD Willett on October 22, 2008 at 02:31 PM MDT #
The High Timber Times was selected by the Board of County Commissioners through the competitive bid process to be the official newspaper for the county through May 2009. Statutes require certain legal notices to be placed in a designated official newspaper while others can be placed in any legal newspaper of general circulation in the county published at least weekly and having been published continuously for at least a year.
Some county departments therefore publish legal notices in the Golden Transcript and occasionally in the Rocky Mountain News, depending on need.
We are very pleased to begin publishing legal notices like the weekly expenditure listing and employee salaries on our new TransparentJeffco Web feature. Our goal as we build out this Web site is to continue to add more and more legal notices to this site in the future. It won’t take the place of publishing legal notices in newspapers, but it will allow the notices to be seen by many more people.
Posted by Jim Moore on October 23, 2008 at 11:09 AM MDT #
Posted by OD Willett on October 23, 2008 at 02:38 PM MDT #
The legal notice for Board of County Commissioner meetings and agendas for those meetings by statute are posted on the bulletin board outside Hearing Room I on the first floor of the Administration and Courts Facility. To make them more easily available, we put the meeting announcement and agendas for BCC meetings on our web site. You will find it on the Jeffco.us home page in the blue box labeled BCC. Along with the agendas for upcoming meetings, we post minutes back to 1995 and resolutions beginning in 1991.
We also email or fax agendas to anyone who would like to receive them. If you would like them, please let us know and we will add you to our distribution list. Minutes of BCC meetings are available on our web site. We have had them available in audio as well as text since 2006. Beginning in early 2009, we hope to start streaming video of the BCC meetings and hearings to make them more accessible for citizens.
Posted by Jim Moore on October 28, 2008 at 01:21 PM MDT #
We have received several inquiries about our policies on posting public notices, with one specifically about the publication of legal notices and Board of County Commissioners resolutions and who has access to those.
The High Timber Times is currently the county’s “official newspaper,” chosen by competitive bid, as it had the lowest bid. The Commissioners also entered into a contract in 2008 with the Mile High Newspapers for publication of certain legals in the Golden Transcript that are not required by statute to be published in the “official newspaper.”
Residents of Jefferson County do not need to subscribe to the High Timber Times to have access to Board of County Commissioners resolutions. They are published on our Web site, www.jeffco.us, within the Board of County Commissioners Web page.
We appreciate the feedback and will certainly take citizen feedback into consideration when it is time to re-bid the county’s legal notices in 2009.
Posted by Jim Moore on October 31, 2008 at 02:35 PM MDT #
Posted by O.D. Willett on November 07, 2008 at 08:22 AM MST #
Please see above responses for answers to these questions. Thank you.
Posted by Jim Moore on November 19, 2008 at 04:55 PM MST #