Tallahassee voters can ensure greater transparency, efficiency of city government and protection of their tax dollars.
Included with all the other important offices and issues that are on the ballot this fall, there are five charter amendments that seek to improve the structure and operations of city government. The most critical of these amendments might appear, at first glance, to be the most mundane. What voters will see at the very end of a long ballot is:
“Shall the Charter of the City of Tallahassee be amended to define the role of the Inspector General by charter rather than by ordinance?”
You may understandably ask, “Why should I care how it’s defined?” or even ask, “What is an inspector general?” The answers to these questions lie in the underlying full text of the amendment that this ballot question doesn’t spell out. Any inspector general, whether at the federal, state, or local level, is tasked with providing accountability and oversight to detect, deter, and eradicate fraud, corruption, waste of public money, abuse, mismanagement, and misconduct. An inspector general is often called the people’s watchdog for their government.