Full Transparency

We are being fed incomplete information at all levels of government these days. On the international level, Saudi Arabia has yet to get its story straight about the country’s involvement in the killing of journalist Jamal Kashoggi in Turkey.
At the national level, by now, we unfortunately don’t expect anything but half-true or downright false information from this administration.
On the state level, we only learned vague information that Lt. Governor Byron Mallott resigned as the result of having said something inappropriate to a woman. This occurs only three weeks before the elections and we are left wondering what happened. We have not learned what Mallott said, nor to whom. We’re just faced with the fact that the “inappropriate” action has affected the gubernatorial race and the fate of this state.
At the local level, we have our own troubles in town. Again, greater transparency would be more beneficial to solve things than a “circling the wagons” approach. A press release from the Nome Police Department stated that two Nome police officers have been put on administrative leave while allegations of inappropriate conduct and performance concerns are being investigated. We also learn that other allegations against NPD officers are being investigated. Who are the officers? We don’t know. What is being investigated? We don’t know.  Who is investigating? We don’t know.
When it comes to investigations it is clear that not all information can be divulged. We understand that fully. However, if we are only fed incomplete stories, there is no lack of rumors or falsehoods to fill in the gaps.
I submit that we are adults who can handle the truth, but we need to have access to it. Trust goes both ways. We need transparency – when reasonably feasible— which will then inspire a way to heal, to restore trust and to assure us that nothing is being swept under the rug. —D.H.—