The Bismarck Tribune today, in an editorial, blisters Governor Doug Burgum for holding a closed-door meeting with oil and gas industry leaders to talk about pipeline safety. “When Gov. Doug Burgum took office we knew he would take a different approach to government,” the Tribune writes. “Unfortunately, that includes excluding the public from discussions that directly impact…
Ed Schafer: SB2152 Will Result in Better Government
A Fargo FORUM editorial screams: “Reject bill that would invite secrecy.” It seems to me their tirade points to why nobody reads the newspapers anymore! Concerning Senate Bill 2152, nothing could be farther from the truth. The proposed public policy that would be generated by this legislative action regards protecting the privacy of applicants for…
North Dakota Republicans Introduce Their Own Campaign Transparency Legislation
Earlier this week Democrats announced a group of bills aimed at making politics in North Dakota more transparent. And most of the proposals, outside of yet another push for an ethics commission, are good ideas. Former state Rep. Ed Gruchalla showed us yesterday just how Democrats intend to use an ethics commission, proving just how terrible…
North Dakota Democrats Have Some Good Ideas on Transparency and Accountability Laws
The North Dakota Democratic party, already marginalized by voters in state politics, suffered even more devastating losses this last election day. In addition to losing every single statewide election by a landslide – not a single one of their candidates got even 30 percent of the vote – they lost seven seats in the state…
Audio: Legislative Leader Talks Transparency, Says Dems Shouldn’t Change Even After Election Losses
On my radio show yesterday I had on state Rep. Corey Mock who, earlier this month, was elected as Minorityh Leader for his party’s caucus in the Legislature. I had him on to talk about transparency legislation. Mock has made transparency and ethics a priority during his legislative career and while I think some of his…
The Key to Addressing Burgum’s Business Interests Is Transparency
At the national level voters elected Donald J. Trump to the White House. Here in North Dakota voters elected Doug Burgum to be our state’s 33rd governor. One thing both of these men have in common are extensive private sector business interests. At the national level there is much media hand-wringing and partisan rancor over…
The Media Don’t Care About Your Access So Much as They Care About Their Access
On North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum’s first day in office he sent out video message to the public by way of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Today the Associated Press published a gripe about politicians who use social media to bypass journalists and control their message, and they cite Burgum’s video message as an…
University System Should Get Open Records Exemption for President Applications
Over the years of writing this blog I developed something of a reputation as a strong supporter of open records and open meetings. So when the North Dakota University System – an organization with an unfortunate history of violating our state’s transparency laws – began making noises about getting an exemption from the state’s open…
North Dakota Needs Better Campaign Disclosure Laws
Over the weekend reporter Tu-Uyen Tran published a really, really good look at North Dakota’s far-too-lax campaign disclosure laws in the context of the very heated, and very expensive gubernatorial primary fight between Republicans Wayne Stenehjem and Doug Burgum. The impression Tran’s report should leave is that North Dakota’s campaign disclosure laws simply aren’t good…
Doug Burgum Won’t Disclose Personal Spending On His Gubernatorial Campaign
Last week Fargo businessman Doug Burgum filed a report with the secretary of state showing over $930,000 in reportable contributions to his gubernatorial campaign (donations of $200 and less do not have to be reported). The thing is, according to political advertising disclosures required of licensed broadcasters by the FCC, Burgum has spent at least $1.4…
