New South Wales, Australia Premier Nathan Rees announces plain language reforms

In an interview recently he said: "I want plain English to become an essential part of how the public sector does its business, every bit as essential as a financial impact statement."

His statement at the opening of the PLAIN Conference in Sydney October 16th included three points that he plans to implement:

This morning the Jacksonville City Council finance committee continued their deliberations on each line item of the city's budget. This morning's agenda begins with the Office of General Counsel, which includes the budget for the City's Ethics Officer.

Watch this very cool www.transparency.org video on corruption:

COVER STORY

Recently Susan Eastman from the Folio Weekly wrote the lead article for that week on Carla's activities in the City of Jacksonville role as Ethics Officer.

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When Mayor John Peyton decided to hire Carla Miller as Jacksonville’s Ethics Officer in 2007, the city was in crisis. A grand jury was investigating violations of state open-meeting laws by nearly every member of the former City Council. The FBI had begun sniffing around JaxPort, probing dubious contracts and allegations of influence peddling. The city had spent $36.5 million to develop the old Shipyards site, with nothing to show for it. It had spent another $26.8 million on the courthouse...