𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 | 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 & 𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬

As an engineer, I look at government through the lens of efficiency and access. If the public cannot access the system because information is hidden behind an artificial barrier, then likely the system is broken.

Lately, concerned citizens have reached out to me regarding a disturbing trend: Platte County public information and official commission data are being actively obscured behind county website firewalls.  These citizens have been contacting the Commissioners and County Clerk.  The Commissioners are not obligated to act but are being informed.  The County Clerk appears to not be sharing public information freely or allowing access to it on the County website.

Let's look at the fiscal reality of this system failure:

1. Taxpayer Funded: The county website and IT infrastructure are paid for entirely by your tax dollars. You bought the system.
2. The Compliance Cost: When elected offices use tech permissions to hide public information or make public agendas harder to access, they aren’t just failing at transparency—they are actively risking costly Sunshine Law and Missouri Statute violations that you, the taxpayer, have to foot the bill for.

A citizen should never have to submit an expensive open-records request just to see records declared public information.

We don't need digital gatekeeping or weaponized departments in the courthouse. We need an administrative hub that treats public records as public property. On Day One, we will audit our digital systems to ensure the taxpayer has unhindered, seamless access to the information they already paid for.

#WojoForClerk #FiscalFriday #PlatteCounty #TaxpayerFirst #OpenData