On Aug. 27, Oklahoma voters will be asked to make informed decisions about various candidates across Oklahoma. They will cast their votes in runoff elections to decide who is going to craft policy and pass legislation. They will do so at a time when many Oklahomans contend we are treading water.
In at least one race there are serious questions of candidate privacy versus transparency. While many have had errors in judgement in their youth and have gone on to become mature, responsible, contributing members of society, voters are entitled to the full truth of their candidates. That decision seems to have taken center stage in Senate District 47.
Living in a republic places a great deal of burden on the people. Not having a direct say in matters of governance, it is the people’s duty to elect the correct person for positions of power to make decisions that will ultimately affect not only their lives but the lives of future generations.
When our Founding Fathers considered a republican form of government, they were influenced by several political philosophers such as John Locke (1632-1704) and Charles Louis de Secondat, but one who had a great deal of influence on republicanism was Henry St. John, First Viscount Bolingbroke (1678-1751), who in 1738 wrote 'The Idea of a Patriot King.”
While Bolingbroke was speaking about monarchs, his ideas were applied to all government leaders—especially elected ones. He argued all political leaders should have moral character and act in the best interests of the people they governed. A key issue for him was that the people needed to be able to trust their leaders. Bolingbroke wrote, 'A King who can be suspected of private views, and of governing with a regard to them, is the most dangerous enemy to the whole nation.' While he did not discuss transparency specifically, Bolingbroke’s concept of trust suggests candidates in a republic must be open and forthright in order to allow the people to make informed decisions about whom they elect.
One of Bolingbroke’s disciples was Founding Father and second U.S. President John Adams. Adams (1735-1826) wrote a letter to poet, playwright and historian Mercy Warren in 1776, America was years away from creating our republican government, but as they had begun their fight for freedom, it was clearly on their mind.
Writing about a republican form of government, Adams wrote “The Form of Government, which you admire when its Principles are pure is admirable indeed, it is productive of every Thing, which is great and excellent among Men. But its Principles are as easily destroyed, as human Nature is corrupted. Such a Government is only to be supported by pure Religion or Austere Morals.
“There must be a positive Passion for the public good, the public Interest, Honour, Power and Glory, established in the Minds of the People, or there can be no Republican Government, nor any real Liberty: and this public Passion must be Superiour to all themselves, and be happy to sacrifice their private Pleasure, passions and Interests …. ”
When Adams wrote private pleasure must be sacrificed, he singled out privacy.
A candidate seeking election to an office where he would help create laws that affect people he doesn’t know, must be willing to place his private life under the lens of the public microscope. Any legislative candidate who asks the public to trust his judgment must be willing to submit to complete transparency. How else can he be trusted?
Let us consider the words of John Stuart Mill, a 19th century English philosopher, politician and civil servant, who wrote, “The best government is that which is most responsible to the people, and where responsibility exists, public opinion will force those who have power to make their conduct public.”
Mill believed that government officials need to be fully accountable to their constituents, which can only be achieved through transparency.
Southwest Ledger does not suggest that a candidate’s past should automatically disqualify them from pursuing their calling to be a public servant. However, voters should expect the full account of their candidates so they may make an informed decision as to whom they chose to represent them. As Mill wrote, “An informed electorate is the only way to maintain the integrity of democracy.”
The Editorial Board of Southwest Ledger contends that Kelly Hines, Republican candidate for Oklahoma State Senate District 47 (northwest Oklahoma City, Edmond, Bethany and Deer Creek) should be forthright with voters as to why he has been shackled with Oklahoma Department of Corrections inmate number 152002 since 1985.
Hines has been flippant with the press about this matter, stating he doesn’t know why he has a DOC inmate number. Surely, Hines doesn’t expect Oklahoma voters to assume that’s nothing more than a DOC clerical error. If that were so, he would have and should have fought to clear his name long ago.
As published in the Aug. 13 edition of Southwest Ledger, for the sake of transparency, the Editorial Board of Southwest Ledger again respectfully requests that Kelly Hines have an open and honest conversation with the public so voters in state Senate District 47 a re able to make a fully informed decision on Aug. 27.