I recently met a man who was reviewing all the County Commissioners Meetings through the previous year and he noted that my name often came up. To be able to write this column, I attend the weekly Tuesday morning County Commissioner Work Session and their Regular Meeting held on Thursday mornings. During the Public Comments section of the meetings, if I feel I have something noteworthy to mention or perhaps something that is relevant to the discussion, I offer my opinion as a good citizen. Like everyone else, it gets put on the official record.

Transparency has only been a recent development in the working of government in American history. For a long time, the “smoke-filled back room” was the typical picture of where the real work of government took place. But even the Founding Fathers realized that public affairs should be open to the public in some sense, which is why they enshrined freedom of the press as one of the first rights guaranteed in the US Constitution.

So, in my duties as reporting the operations of county government, I find that there are things going on behind the scenes, which I know, but technically, I don’t know. These are the things that are told to me, “off the record.” Of course, everyone hungers for the juicy gossip, and unfortunately, there is much of it in today’s media. “Unnamed sources,” “high-level officials,” and other such unanimous authorities are “quoted” for gossip and rumors that too often turn out to be untrue, but by the time it is shown to be false, the damage is already done. Even down to the township supervisor level where I serve, I was once quoted in the local daily newspaper as making a callous statement in a meeting that I did not even attend. By the time I got my retraction weeks later, it was way too late. To this day, I know individuals who still believe the lie.

In almost every interview I have with a government official, I ensure them that I will only quote what they permit me to. If they say, “Now, Larry, this is off-the-record,” I lift my fingers up off the keyboard immediately. Sometimes I even close my computer. If I am keeping notes on a notepad, I put the pen down. I want the person to know, and to be assured, what is said in Starbucks will stay in Starbucks if they say so.

But why the cloak and dagger? What are those things that are important but cannot be quoted? I will generalize a couple of areas that I find that these fall into, which will hopefully satisfy the insatiable appetite for the unknown truth.

The most common reason is where if something were known, it would hurt someone. In may come as a great surprise to many folks, but among the hundreds of people I have had a chance to interact within the course of doing this column through the years, almost everyone has some sense of the Golden Rule. They would not want to hurt someone else because they would not want that to happen to them.

In addition to that, county workers, like many who serve in government, understand that maintaining trust in public officials is very, very important. Yes, it would be nice to settle some scores, but the consequence would be that the public would suffer in the long run. Good people choose to let the sleeping dog lie still.

Another reason why I get the “off the record” request is that there are projects that are in the process, but still somewhat fuzzy. Of course, public projects require funding, and therefore these are very open. But there are many ventures or undertakings that start out as ideas, and these ideas often involve a number of moving parts. They might involve public property that is being considered to be bought or sold, personnel or department restructuring, and even running for office. Consider next year’s election for the position of Lycoming County Commissioner. By a very strange set of circumstances, the entire board will be up for election at the same time. Three seats means three opportunities for office seekers, and there have been many, many names that have been circulating around about who will be running for the office. But these are all “off the record” because these individuals who are considering running are still weighing their options and do not want to actually declare their intentions until they are absolutely sure that they have a shot at winning. Smart generals do not show their battle strategy to their adversaries.

There was a comedy show many years ago called “Get Smart” featuring a lame-brained spy by the name of Maxwell Smart, played by the actor Don Adams. When his boss, the Chief, wanted to tell him something confidential, they pulled down the “Cone of Silence,” which looked a giant glass bell. When the two men tried to talk inside the cone, the echo was so loud; they could not carry on a conversation. (Which does not sound that funny when described, but actually was quite hilarious to watch). The irony is that like an echo, many times those things that were “off the record” get heard eventually anyway, and not because of an untrustworthy journalist. Benjamin Franklin said it best, “Three people can keep a secret — if two of them are dead.”