Election years have a way of turning all politicians into open government advocates. 

All Republicans and all Democrats will pledge transparency and talk ad nauseam about their open door policies. 

Transparency — keeping the light on the people’s business — ought to be something everyone can agree on regardless of party affiliation.

The problem is, that as soon as the campaigning ends, so also ends the commitment to open government. 

Neither political party has a great track record when it comes to real and meaningful transparency.

More often than not, the minority party champions transparency right up until the time it becomes the majority party.

Pretty much all politicians stump on transparency and public access, until they have something they want to hide from the public. 

Politicians broker deals behind closed doors and conceal documents that contain important information that the public has the right, and often the need, to know and that is so common that it is just seen as business as usual — the way things are done.

The public has the right to know how its business is being conducted and how its money is being spent.

Decisions made, dollars doled out and records stored by city hall, county commission, the board of education and the Georgia General Assembly belong to all of us — liberals, conservatives, Republicans, Democrats and everyone else.

The people of Georgia have a vested interest in open meetings and public records.

All people should care deeply about transparency issues even if we can’t agree on anything else when it comes to politics. The lack of and need for true government transparency should be about the most bipartisan cause that exists.

Elected officials committed to public service should fully understand what a representative form of government is all about, should not only champion openness in government, but should be the most effective watchdogs, looking out for the public trust.

The press keeps an eye on government, exposing clandestine actions and in response journalists are often ridiculed, belittled and called names by elected officials themselves, simply because they are doing their jobs and working hard to keep government honest by leveraging public access laws.

The public should understand those same laws that guarantee access to government documents and actions are not just a media right. It is all about the public’s right to know.

Jim Zachary is editor of The Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI’s director of newsroom training and development and president emeritus of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.