Post all Government Finances to the Web Daily

By Steven Paul "Steve" Mozena

As governor, I will post daily all state government finances to the Internet in the form of a simple online checkbook, starting with the governor's office and the Lottery. This will provide full transparency and accountability for the taxpayers.

We need it because we need to make our government honest.

We need to ensure that politicians to not misuse taxpayer money to enrich themselves.

We need to ensure that all social programs are run responsibly, with full accountability, so that no one, politician or ordinary citizen, exploits them for their own benefit illegally and unethically.

The economic future of our state is at stake.

I have been pursuing the goal of posting the finances for 10 years. It was the central plank in my campaign for mayor of Los Angeles in 2001.

In 2003, because the political establishment in California was failing to respond to my many requests to start the Post the Finances ball rolling, I created a ballot initiative that would mandate all California government departments and agencies to post their finances to their respective Web sites every day.

If Post the Finances were to become law, ordinary citizens would be able to access, through the Internet, all the state's finances. It will be like having an open checkbook register showing all revenues and expenditures, day by day. Payees, dates, and amounts will all be shown clearly, as will income from all taxes and fees. It's as easy as online banking. We will have "open books" not "cooked books."

We need a money trail like this so we can follow the "flow of the dough" to prevent misuse of our taxes.

In this way, Californians will always be able to stop any waste and corruption instantly.

For many months during 2003 I moved heaven and earth to raise the money that was needed to get ballot initiative launched. I contacted all the movers and shakers in California politics, from Congressman Darrell Issa, who bankrolled the recall of Governor Gray Davis, to Arnold Schwarzenegger. I received support from the now-councilman Carl DeMaio at the Performance Institute in San Diego, and encouraging words from former LA Mayor Richard Riordan.

Wherever I went I spoke about Post the Finances, and I always received an enthusiastic response.

When I spoke at the Sunday morning Prayer Breakfast at the Fall 2003 California Republican Convention, nearly 500 people broke out in spontaneous applause in support of the Post the Finances initiative.

I was invited to the Schwarzenegger inauguration in Sacramento in November 2003, and made sure that every member of Schwarzenegger's inner circle knew about Post the Finances. I also wrote directly to Schwarzenegger, asking that he throw his weight behind the initiative.

However, to date I have received no reply, even though the governor emphasized reform and commissioned a Performance Review to improve all aspects of government.

Why has California missed this great opportunity?

In the Fall of 2004, I ran a vigorous campaign to win a seat on the Carson, California, City Council. At several candidate forums I advocated Posting the Finances. In the election, I received over 1,150 votes. I took encouragement from this, and ran again for a Council seat in March 2005. Once again, Post the Finances was a vital part of my platform. Although I did not win election, many more people became aware of the Post the Finances.

Pushing for this fundamental reform of the way our government at all levels handles our money is an uphill struggle, but I am determined to continue it.

Along with my wife Lucille, I ran again as a candidate for Carson City Council in the election of March 6, 2007. My main goal was to get the Council to make Carson a model city for the post the finances program. That remains my goal.

Eventually the message of Post the Finances will get through to the politicians. They will realize they can no longer hide behind a wall of financial secrecy and must open up the books for everyone to see.

As governor of California, I would make posting the finances my number one priority.