Reader's view: Anzelc fights for needed transparency at IRRRB

On the front page of the News Tribune’s Jan. 24 “Local News” section a headline proclaimed, “Anzelc sponsors bill to repeal IRRRB privacy protections.” The article described Rep. Tom Anzelc’s effort to repeal a recently enacted law that blocks public access to the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board’s financial information collected on recipients of IRRRB funding.

The previous IRRRB commissioner requested the new law that blocked public access and the Legislature deferred to the IRRRB request. The new law should be overturned and Rep. Anzelc should be applauded for this effort to restore public confidence in state-agency decision-making.

We all love our privacy and cherish it dearly. Nevertheless, public agencies charged with determining who gets millions in taxpayer money need to know that agency failings will not be swept under the rug in the name of protecting our privacy. Only when information used to justify large public subsidies of private corporate activity is accessible to the public can an agency be held accountable for its decision-making. We all want economic development, but we can’t afford to lose transparency and accountability in decision-making. Indeed, holding state government accountable for economic-development decisions is the only way to ensure tax dollars are directed only to legitimate economic-development efforts.

Rod Otterness

International Falls, Minn.

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