Commenter Sepideh brought this to the blog’s attention yesterday and it served as a catalyst for my thinking on a topic I’ve wanted to write about:
That topic? Trust in government. Without trust, no government can be successful in truly “serving” its people (although governments don’t need trust to successfully “rule over” its people; dictatorship, anyone?).
In a country where the current regime and the Republican party are doing everything they can to purposely create mistrust in government, Mamdani - through his words and actions - continues to do something so seemingly obvious but yet so vanishingly rare in politics today. He is showing people that government can do good things for people, and perhaps more importantly, he is showing through concrete actions that “We the People” should be able to trust government as long as we elect people who are truly willing to be servant-leaders.
Mamdani’s actions triggered another issue I’ve been shouting from the rooftops for years: reduced trust in government due to the excessive withholding by government officials of public information. Call it “over classification” or whatever you will, but all information held by our government belongs to the public. Yes - there are circumstances where information should be held tightly - critical national security information and protecting the privacy of individuals are two instances where not releasing information to the public may be warranted.
This brings me to the importance of what I’ll call “foundational presumption” for all government officials (electeds, appointed and employees) to create and ensure trust in government. That is, what is the appropriate default assumption when a government official is dealing with a given topic that will most likely increase trust in government?
For example, take voting. To me, the foundational presumption is that government should make voting as easy and “painless” as possible for all eligible voters. The easier it is to vote, the more trust in government. One party - Democrats -wants to make voting for eligible citizens easier. One party - Republicans - wants to throw up as many roadblocks as possible for classes of citizens they believe will vote against them.
Or take our court system. For years, the government was granted the “presumption of regularity” in the legal system. From JustSecurity.org: The “presumption of regularity” is a judicially created doctrine with a long and contested history. The doctrine affords the executive branch a distinctive advantage not enjoyed by private litigants. It generally instructs courts to presume, unless there is clear evidence to the contrary, that executive officials have “properly discharged their official duties” and that government agencies have acted with procedural regularity and with bona fide, non-pretextual reasons.” Sadly, the Trump Administration has acted so egregiously, and so broken the trust with which they were presumably entitled, that for the first time in modern memory courts are starting to ignore the presumption of regulatory in DOJ court cases.
When it comes to information, the foundational presumption should always be to lean towards disclosure rather than classification or withholding. Put bluntly, secrecy reduces trust in government, and excessive secrecy historically breaks the bonds between government and those it is supposed to serve.
Keeping post-9/11 New York City air quality measurements secret is a classic example of going against the foundational presumption that should have guided NYC officials.
From the article ( ):
New York City has released more than 170,000 pages of previously undisclosed records about air quality following the September 11, 2001, attacks, showing city officials at the time knew conditions around Ground Zero were unsafe to breathe despite repeated assurances to the public.
“As the years pass and the human toll grows, we reckon with the cost of September 11th whenever another New Yorker is stolen from us too soon,” Mamdani said. “Now, close to 25 years later, more people have died from 9/11-related illnesses than were killed on the day itself.”
At least 140,000 people from all 50 states have enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program, and 49,000 have been diagnosed with certified WTC-related cancers, according to the 9/11 Memorial. Mamdani said Tuesday that more people are eligible for assistance than are currently enrolled, including residents who lived near the site but have not received outreach and those who live outside of New York.
…
Ben Chevat, the executive director of 9/11 Health Watch, said Tuesday the release of the documents will give people what they need to access federal assistance and will help kick-start additional research on health outcomes.
“Mr. Mayor, I want to thank you for being the mayor who, after 25 years, begins to answer the question: what did the city know about the dangers from the toxic cloud at Ground Zero, and when did it know it?” Chevat said at Tuesday’s news conference, addressing Mamdani.
…
“People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air,” Mamdani said.
…
When asked whether the yearslong delay in releasing the documents was a “cover-up,” the mayor said, “This was multiple mayoral administrations refusing to release documents that New Yorkers were owed. ”A searchable portal will provide access to the documents, and the city is expected to add more material on a rolling basis in the coming months, officials said Tuesday. Every document published in the portal will be available for view and download at no cost.
Read the entire thing. It’s eye opening. Officials were more concerned about getting sued than they were about protecting the health and well-being of the people they purported to serve. More people are eligible for assistance than are currently enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program. Secrecy and lack of outreach are clearly two of the main reasons.
Oh, and note that Mamdani tactfully refused to place blame, noting that several administrations kept the information secret.
Would more people be taken alive if these findings were not secretly withheld by government officials? Would there be more lawsuits? We will never know. But there is one thing we do know: the info released by Mamdani belonged to the public; it should have been released and not doing so absolutely reduced trust in government going forward.
Over-classification and lack of information transparency are telltale signs of government officials who are afraid of - and don’t themselves trust - the people they supposedly serve. It’s also the calling card of despots and dictators.
Democrats should take up Mamdani’s lead and help the public understand that they are the party to trust in running our federal, state and local governments. That their “foundational presumptions” on any topic will be guided by what’s best for the people they serve, that sunshine is the best disinfectant, and that they put servant-leadership over dictatorial rule as their guiding light in governance.
John Denver - Sunshine on My Shoulders
