Now's not the time for secrets

I can't say that I always agree with the editorials in D C Thomson publications (I don't think they'd want me to to anyway) but I have to say that I thought that every member of the City Council should reflect on the editorial in the Tuesday edition of The Evening Telegraph which is below:

Now's not the time for secrets

Dundee is facing unprecedented cuts in its council spending, sparked by the Government's vow to balance the country's books.

There is no doubt hugely controversial and difficult decisions will have to be made as the city leaders try to find £40 million in savings.

Each and everyone of us is also likely to feel the pain as council departments are asked to slash 5% from their budgets.

Most people will understand the predicament that the council finds itself in as it picks up the pieces after years of burgeoning public spending.

However, what the public will not understand and will not accept is for the authority to hold some of the discussions on these cuts behind closed doors.

Council leader Ken Guild has tried to reassure dissenting opposition members by claiming that all proposals will be discussed in public at committees.

So, why then, did the council vote for the special board, set up to look at savings, to be held in secret?

Just what do our politicians and officials think will be gained by kicking out the public from such meetings?

Have they forgotten that it is the public's services that face the axe, or the fact that it is the taxpayer who pays their wages?