Could this be the dawn of a new era of government in the sunshine for Georgia?

Newly elected Speaker of the House David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) has declared the door is open and the old way is out along with iron-fisted former Speaker Glenn Richardson.

"We're going to be more accessible," Ralston told the MDJ's Jon Gillooly in a Friday interview. "I think it's important that we communicate with you because that's the way the public knows what we're doing; so we're going to do things a lot differently in that regard."

The new speaker, arguably the third most powerful official in state government, got it right.

It's not only important, but it's imperative that the people's servants in elected offices communicate honestly, openly and straightforwardly with the news media and thus the people - without the kind of bunker mentality displayed at the highest level of our federal government, the White House itself, playing favorites on the basis of how friendly news organizations are.

Ralston understands that in providing information to the news media he is informing the citizens of "what we're doing."

As promised, one of Ralston's first official acts was to abolish the Hawk system created in 2005 by Richardson to impose his will on committees. Hawks were appointed by the former speaker as ex officio members of all standing committees and subcommittees, empowered to vote on all matters and keep members in line with the speaker's will.

In "a promised step to restore transparency and integrity to the House," Ralson rescinded the Hawk appointments. He said the system had "become a tool used strictly for partisan purposes."

Ralston pledged: "Under my leadership, I am committed to working across the aisle and ensuring an equal voice to all House members no matter their party affiliation."

The three Hawks - Republicans Clay Cox and David Casas, both of Lilburn, and John Lunsford of McDonough - "in an effort to show their support, voluntarily gave up their role," Ralston said. Right, but of course they had no choice.

Not surprisingly, Ralston took the chairmanship of the powerful House Rules Committee from Cobb's Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs). Regardless of Ehrhart's credentials, it was hardly likely that the new speaker would keep the Rules chairman who had been appointed by Richardson and worked to carry out his agenda.

Ralston selected Ehrhart to be the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education, calling it more crucial than the Rules Committee assignment.

Ralston said the new appointment was a promotion because "the best people" are needed to work on an extremely tight budget and Ehrhart "understands the issues of higher education better than anyone."

Ehrhart said he would put to good use his 22 years of legislative experience as the senior Republican member of the General Assembly. That's good news both for Georgia and Cobb County.

Speaker Ralston is off to a good start on letting the sunshine in. Now let's see how far is he willing to go on genuine ethics reform.

dmckee9613@aol.com