Superior Mayor bans NDAs for public officials
SUPERIOR, Wis. — Superior Mayor Jim Payne has put a ban in place that will stop city officials in Superior from signing non-disclosure agreements.
The mayor said that NDAs have not been common practice for the city up to this point either, with only 3 signed in the last 5 years with publicly disclosed vendors, in order to protect proprietary information related to technology or private customer information.
The ban doubles as the city’s response to recent developments surrounding NDAs in the Twin Ports, as well as a records request by the press.
“Obviously it has been a major story that many public officials on the other side of the bridge have been signing non-disclosure agreements for large development projects, that is something we would never do,” said Paine.
“We would never sign an NDA for a large development project, we would never keep a secret from the public that is bad public policy, and it is now prohibited in the City of Superior.”
While certain pieces of personal information will continue to be unavailable in favor of privacy, the City of Superior reiterated that transparency with its citizens is a must.
“The public has access to this government, they have a right to know what we’re doing, they have a right to participate in the decision-making process, and that involves knowing as much as they possibly can,” said Paine.
“Confidentiality has some role in a planning and policy process, but it should be a small one and a temporary one, and it should always, always, always favor as much public access as possible.”
Paine also said that should an NDA need to be signed in the future, his staff would be involved in the process, with the new law triggering the public process through a council meeting, where the signing of the agreement would get either approved or denied.
The mayor’s office has stated that, to the best of its knowledge, no Superior city officials have signed any NDAs in the past regarding proposed developments or potential developers.
