The importance of Sunshine Laws cannot be overstated. These laws ensure meetings are noticed publicly in order to give everyone a fair chance to have an affect on what's happening in their community. Attending last-minute meetings is a privilege of a schedule that most of us don't have. Many of us need to take time off work, scramble for childcare, and actually review the info to participate in decisions that impact our lives. Every meeting held without proper notice isn't just shady—it's illegal.
For example, take the recent unnoticed meeting where it was decided to use subsidized housing to help transplants relocate here. The majority sympathized with employers, who are experiencing staffing shortages. While they may be in a challenging position, if they are unable to pay a living wage they should not be moving people here. This decision excludes the perspective of the workers, who are fighting displacement amid a severe housing shortage. Recruiting more low-income workers who need subsidized housing won't solve our crisis; it will exacerbate it.
It's like pouring gasoline on a fire and wondering why everything's burning down.
Let's get one thing straight: decisions like this should not be made in the dark. Employers recruiting workers must pay them enough to afford to live and contribute to our community. Our subsidized housing cannot and should not be used to pad profits.
Enter Salty, our whistleblower. She's been fighting to ensure that community voices are heard in these meetings. Salty tries her best to attend every meeting, but this often requires her to make sacrifices in her career as well as her personal life. Even as the Vice Chair of the CHA, she often gets last-minute notice of these meetings, limiting her preparation and overall effectiveness. This isn't just a bureaucratic oversight—it's a deliberate attempt to silence her and, by extension, silence us.
You can't solve a problem as complex as housing without considering various points of view.
We need Sunshine Laws to ensure diferent perspectives can participate. The housing crisis affects us all differently, and while homogenous groups might find meetings more comfortable, their singularly-focused decisions lead to lower-quality outcomes. Research shows that teams with multiple perspectives make better business decisions 87% of the time. Additionally, teams that follow an inclusive process make decisions twice as fast with half the meetings.
Salty’s frustration with the CHA’s lack of progress is palpable. She's battling a well-meaning but entrenched system that silences and oppresses the very people it was created to serve. Her struggle highlights the stark realities of classism and the critical need for transparency in government. Every unnoticed meeting, every back room decision, chips away at the integrity of our democracy and the well-being of our community.
It’s time for the CHA to fully embrace their mission and avoid decisions rooted in the overconfidence that they know our problems better than we do. They have a duty to be accountable to the taxpayers who fund them. Especially while asking for more funding, the CHA must genuinely address our community's needs and demonstrate through tangible action that they take this responsibility seriously. By recognizing that diverse perspectives and thorough preparation lead to better outcomes, they can solve the problems they've been funded to fix.
We don't need more housing-insecure workers; we need rental subsidies, effective programs, education and advocacy. We need our voices, our time, and our representatives to be treated with respect. We need decisions that affect the community to be made in the light. Let's stand with Salty and demand the services, accountability and transparency we deserve.
Comentários