news-record.com

In its annual rating of public access to elected bodies, a conservative, Raleigh-based think tank has given the governments in Greensboro and Guilford County a C and B, respectively.

If that seems way too kind on both counts, that's because it is.

Both bodies have made getting information more challenging than it ought to be. County government in particular has had a knack in recent months for stonewalling both the media and the public.

But the John Locke Foundation ratings were based solely on access to public documents via government Web sites -- not elected officials' dealings with reporters and citizens.Otherwise, no way in the world does Guilford County even make it into the same area code as a B.

The county has become notorious for its faithful adherence to a "don't ask, 'cause we won't tell" approach to dispensing information. That has been the case in the massive reshuffling among the county manager, deputy manager, county attorney and some department head positions.

And it was the case most recently, when county commissioners Chairman Melvin "Skip" Alston and Vice Chairman Steve Arnold stiffed a reporter who dared ask what the county intended to do with $1.3 million earmarked in the budget for economic incentives. Neither man would provide additional details this week.

As for the city, it probably deserves a better overall grade than the county. It made public some telling recordings of a heated closed discussion the City Council had before dismissing former City Manager Mitchell Johnson.

And it has added a Web-based search tool that allows citizens to know how near a house or development is to the planned route of the Urban Loop.

But it has dragged its collective feet on a response to a Neighborhood Congress proposal for a new public records requests process. Both entities had better get to work before final exam time at the ballot box. There are vast acres of room for improvement.

And the voters don't grade on a curve.