Town of Minocqua Clerk Roben Haggart will be honored with the Wisconsin Newspaper Association’s 2024 Sunshine in Government Award.
The award, launched in 2022 by the WNA Board of Directors, recognizes efforts by Wisconsin citizens and public officials to protect and strengthen open government. It will be presented during the Wisconsin Newspaper Hall of Fame Banquet on Thursday, Nov. 7, at The Madison Club in downtown Madison (learn more about the event here).
“Town clerks rarely generate much news—except when they do something wrong—or receive many awards, but they are vital public servants in keeping government running smoothly and efficiently at the local level,” wrote Gregg Walker, publisher of The Lakeland Times, in nominating Haggart.
“Every once in a while a clerk comes along whose work is stellar and deserving of recognition, and that is the case with Ms. Haggart, especially in the service of transparency and open government, which have become her signatures in Minocqua,” Walker added.
Walker listed three reasons for nominating Haggart:
• Her length of time as an open-government role model for public officials. Each year during Sunshine Week, The Lakeland Times grades local, state, and national figures on their commitment to open government, and, for more than a decade, Ms. Haggart has earned an “A+” rating in our Sunshine Grades, an unparalleled record of distinction.
“No one comes close in consistently topping the field in her commitment to openness,” Walker wrote.
• Her service to openness. Haggart ensures that town officials are trained adequately in the finer points of the open meetings and open government laws.
“We know without question that Ms. Haggart has not only provided sturdy advice about what officials and the town must do to meet the requirements of the law but has helped to marshal timely and adequate responses to records requests,” Walker wrote.
• Her “unyielding commitment to transparency” even when it involves controversies involving the town.
“Just in the past several years, when our newspaper raised questions about a possible walking quorum, Ms. Haggart was just as pro-active in obtaining the records we sought as she is on any mundane matter,” Walker wrote. “Especially on the local level, controversies involving co-workers can cause even the strongest officials to at least hesitate in throwing open the doors of government. Ms. Haggart never does.”
Concluding his nomination, Walker wrote: “In following her commitment to transparency, Ms. Haggart never takes pause in pulling back government’s curtains so that the public may see, no matter what may be behind them, and I proudly nominate her for the Sunshine in Government award.”
About the award
Sunshine in Government Award Nominations are open to any Wisconsin individual, including citizens, public officials, educators and others who have made extraordinary efforts on behalf of government transparency. Those efforts may include, but are not limited to, facilitating access to information, advocating on behalf of public records or open meetings, exemplifying extraordinary leadership on behalf of the freedom of information and challenging efforts to impede the public’s right to know.
Nominations should include:
- A nomination letter.
- (Optional) Relevant supporting materials (newspaper clips, testimonials, voting records, etc.) that demonstrate the nominee’s commitment to advancing open government.
Honorees will be selected by the WNA Board of Directors’ executive committee, but if no suitable nomination is submitted, no award will be made.
Nomination materials should be sent via email to the WNA.
