FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                            March 14, 2008

CARY TAKES STEPS TO CELEBRATE SUNSHINE WEEK

Citizens encouraged to participate as part of observance that runs March 16-22

CARY , NC – As part of its strong and ongoing commitment to openness and transparency, the Town of Cary has joined the nation in celebrating Sunshine Week – a national initiative to promote the importance of open government and freedom of information; this year’s week is March 16-22.  To raise citizen awareness of their rights under Sunshine laws and to encourage feedback on how the Town can improve, Cary has created a new Sunshine Week Web page and produced a Sunshine week public service announcement that is running regularly on Cary TV 11; also, the Town is running an ad in the Cary News.  Supervisors are reminding Town staff of their responsibilities under Sunshine laws, and last night, the Cary Town Council for the first time officially recognized Sunshine Week with a proclamation.

“Here in Cary , the sun shines not just in March but each day as we focus on providing outstanding service to our citizens,” said Town Clerk Sue Rowland.  “Even though we work hard on accessibility and transparency, we want citizens to let us know of any issues they encounter since, despite our best efforts, there will surely be opportunities for us to improve.”

In addition to this year’s Sunshine Week activities noted above, the Town has implemented a number of measures to constantly foster accessibility and transparency including:

• Public records policy – On February 8, 2007 the Town of Cary became one of the first local governments in North Carolina to adopt a comprehensive public records policy that articulates specifically how the Town sill support Sunshine laws.

• Annual Media survey – To help access our level of openness, the Town has been asking the media to rate the Town on “accessibility of information” every year since 1999.

• Online access to information – Since 1997, the Town has been posting Council meeting materials on the Web for everyone to access at the same time – Council, media, and citizens; today, the Web site boasts more than 55,000 files of “public records”.

• Statement of Values – Two of the 11 points in the Town’s Statement of Values refer to transparency: 1) Our organization exists to serve our citizens.  We will be open, ensure access, encourage involvement and be accountable to our citizens; and 3) We will be honest, ethical and diligent.  Our actions will comply with local, state and federal laws.

• Internal education efforts – Public records and open meetings information is shared with all new employees and citizen advisory board members during their orientation to the Town of Cary ; this information is reinforced with staff during related training opportunities throughout the year.

Those with questions about public records in the Town of Cary should contact Town Clerk Sue Rowland at (919) 460-4941 or Public Information Officer Susan Moran at (919) 460-4951.

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