Councilmember Reynolds proposes transparency ordinance; colleagues question need

Councilmember Reynolds introduced a proposed ordinance, the 'Millingville Transparency and Accountability Act,' at the Aug. 12 Milledgeville City Council meeting and asked the body to consider annual public reporting on metrics intended to increase transparency and accountability.

Reynolds said the proposal would include tracking meeting attendance for appointees and elected officials, whether required trainings were completed, travel and training budgets (budgeted vs. spent), and campaign-finance filing compliance. He said the ordinance would not apply retroactively and, if adopted, reporting would begin with the next council term and the first public report would cover the prior calendar year and be due by March 1, 2027.

Several council members questioned whether the ordinance was necessary given the city’s existing open-records practices and current ethics rules. Dr. Lee and others said public access to records already exists and expressed concern that simple absence or approved leaves could be misread by a scoring metric; Reynolds said the draft includes a review period so officials can add context or contest inaccuracies before reports are published.

Reynolds suggested the city could be a leader among municipalities by adopting clearer, regular metrics for public review; colleagues said they support transparency but want to avoid redundant or punitive reporting. No formal vote or ordinance reading occurred; council members asked for additional discussion and possible research into whether other jurisdictions have a similar reporting framework.

Quote: "Anything that can be measured can be improved and to promote open government, build public trust and increase accountability," Reynolds said when he introduced the proposal.

Ending: The council did not take action to adopt the ordinance; members requested further review and indicated willingness to continue the conversation in future meetings.