Remember that last year, my colleagues and I endorsed Elise Partin in her successful bid to become mayor of Cayce? Endorsing in that particular election was unusual for us — we seldom got involved in municipal races outside of Columbia proper — but interest was high on both sides of the river after Cayce suddenly annexed the old Green Diamond property.

Also, Ms. Partin simply impressed us as someone who would be a breath of fresh air in local government. And one of the reasons we citied for picking her was what we perceived as a dedication to transparency on her part:

Cayce needs a steady leader who will keep the public informed and pay attention to detail. Mrs. Partin is sharp, does her homework and would expose attempts to put something over on the public….

Well, as it turns out, now that she’s at the helm, Cayce is garnering praise for taking steps to make its spending far more open and available to the public. I learned that via this news item over at Mike Fitts’ new outfit:

CAYCE — The city of Cayce has begun disclosing its spending details on the Internet for its purchases — tools, equipment, office supplies, utilities and more — by posting its monthly check register to its municipal Web site. The city joins a growing list of local governments to open their books to the public, allowing people to see what they are spending.

One small flaw in that report, however, is that the only source quoted was Richard Eckstrom, who was hailing the Cayce move as a pioneering response to his own call to local governments to be transparent. Sounds like our state comptroller was the main source on the item. I mean good for him and all that, but that left open the natural question: Whom do we have to thank in Cayce for taking this step?

A city press release quotes Mayor Partin as giving credit to Councilman Steve Isom:

“There’s no downside to providing citizens information about what their government is doing,” says Mayor Elise Partin. “There are certainly many ways to do that. Councilman Steve Isom felt strongly about having the monthly check registers on-line and we’re excited about it. Monthly financial reports have been on-line already on the city’s website and now this offers an additional outlet.”

So good job there, Mr. Isom. And it looks like we can thank the mayor, too, for being supportive of the effort. At least, she certainly sounds supportive.

It’s nice when someone lives up to your faith in her.

Related Posts

• Lott, others endorse ‘yes’ vote on the penny
• It wasn’t me, but what a good idea
• Michael Koska, S.C. House District 77
• How did you vote in the District 5 referendum, and why?
• Video: What’s different about THIS referendum?
• Attention, District 5 voters!
• I hope all you urban types are voting today
• How will you Columbians vote tomorrow?
• Clare offers to sacrifice herself for the Greater Good
• Good to have SOME adult supervision for Richland County