And, no, Sunshine Week advocates aren’t pressing for the federal government to make Daylight Savings Time a year-round occurrence.

Instead, we’re pushing for greater openness in government – or to be more precise, that government follow its own laws when dealing with public information.

Some states – Florida and California to name two – have strong public records laws. They require much more information be made public when requested than in North Carolina.

In the Tar Heel state, the salaries of most employees at taxpayer-supported hospitals are secret. And when those hospitals buy a medical practice, something that’s all the rage these days, state law says they don’t have to tell you what they paid for it – even though they used your money to buy it.

But secrecy invades much more than just the public hospital business.

This state has a small agency charged with the responsibility of investigating ethics violations. But if you call that agency to ask if they are investigating someone, they will tell you they won’t disclose that information.

State Senator Tony Rand, at a meeting of North Carolina newspapers last month, said he wasn’t inclined to make those investigations public because charges could be leveled for political reasons at campaign time.

And closer to home, local governments have the right to disclose personnel actions if they believe doing so would serve the best interests of the government to dispel concerns about the operations of government.

Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr. famously did so when he forced the director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, John Kennedy, to resign.

But most town managers prefer not to release that information for fear that legal action could result.

In the meantime, you, gentle taxpayer, are forced to do without knowing how decisions are made and what some leaders’ motivations are.

Wendell Town Commissioners Carol Hinnant and Sid Baynes both said last week they voted against a request to make changes to the plans for Wendell Falls because they were concerned that those changes were being pushed through without proper public discussion.

“If changes like this were happening here in Wendell, we’d be having public hearings and getting input from people,” Baynes said.

Baynes and Hinnant bought themselves – and the public – some time to study the changes planned for Wendell Falls. Because the request didn’t pass by a 4-1 supermajority it has to come back to the Town Board for a second reading.

North Carolina newspapers regularly press legislators to open the doors of government so anyone can see how rulers make decisions.

It’s an uphill battle because legislators’ own vested interests are at stake.

Open government lobbyists have been reduced, in recent years, to battling little fights over arcane rules that could have a chilling effect on the flow of information. See the hospital rules above.

What’s needed is an overhaul of the state’s open records laws that leaves no room for government officials to twist or misinterpret the intent of elected officials to be public about what they’ve done.

And, since every politician would be quick to point out that he or she has nothing to hide, such a major change in the state law shouldn’t give anyone any pause.