A third Democratic candidate for House District 44 signs Open Government Pledge

Norman City Coucilman Tom Kovach has pledged to support open government legislation if elected to the state House District 44 seat.

Kovach is the third Democratic candidate for House District 44 to sign FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s Open Government Pledge.

The seat is being vacated by Democrat Bill Nations, who is term-limited. Nations signed the pledge in 2008.

Kovach had also signed the pledge earlier this year when he ran unopposed for re-election to his council position.

As a House candidate, Kovach specifically promised to "support legislation to strengthen the letter and the spirit of Oklahoma's Open Meeting and Open Records laws."

He also pledged "to support at every opportunity the public policy of the State of Oklahoma that the people are vested with the inherent right to know and be fully informed about their government so that they can efficiently and intelligently exercise their inherent political power."

The pledge also has been signed by Kovach's announced Democratic opponents: Emily Virgin, an OU first-year law student, and Isaiah McCaslin, a public policy junior at the University of Oklahoma.

The filing period is in June.

Freedom of Information Oklahoma Inc. invites other legislative candidates and those running for statewide and municipal offices to sign the pledge.

Instructions and a list of signers for the 2010 elections can be found on FOI Oklahoma’s Web site.

FOI Oklahoma began the Open Government Pledge in spring 2008 as part of a national effort to spur public commitments to government transparency from candidates for president down to city council contests.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism