Accountability

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Accountability is a concept in ethics with several meanings. It is often used synonymously with such concepts as answerability, enforcement, responsibility, blameworthiness, liability and other terms associated with the expectation of account-giving. As an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in both the public and private (corporation) worlds.

Accountability is defined as "A is accountable to B when A is obliged to inform B about A’s (past or future) actions and decisions, to justify them, and to suffer punishment in the case of eventual misconduct" ^[1].

In leadership roles, accountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies including the administration, governance and implementation within the scope of the role or employment position and encompassing the obligation to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences."

I believe in accountability in all levels and forms of government. We must hold our leadership and ourselves accountable for their actions and decisions. We must ensure that communication is open, dialog is honest and that information is shared in order to best serve the people.

I am working with the Chairman and Legislative leaders to build and foster accountability with our County leadership. One example is ensuring that our Department Heads and Administration receive their annual reviews. In this way, we can offer and solicit feedbackwith regards to the efficient operation of the County, as well as share ideas on how the Departments can better function.

In addition, I have requested that the monthly Legislative Committee minutes be drafted and distributed to the Legislature prior to the Legislature monthly meeting. In this way the Legislators will have the ability to review the context of the meeting, the discussions on the agenda items and the votes tallied.