It is fitting that we recognize the invaluable contributions of the League of Women Voters of Fresno today on the start of Sunshine Week.

What is Sunshine Week?

It's an annual effort dedicated to reminding citizens and their representatives that the activities of government at every level must be conducted in public.

Understand: There is no better disinfectant for the sausage making, horse trading and favor dealing that goes on in government than letting the sunshine in.

The League of Women Voters also plays a role in oiling the wheels of democracy by educating citizens about important public policy issues. The organization shines a light into the nooks and crannies of legislation and calls attention to upcoming votes that could profoundly impact our community.

For example, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors will conduct a workshop on the 2013 Revision to the 2000 General Plan starting at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. The revision is many years overdue and, with the media's and the public's attention focused on the city of Fresno's 2035 General Plan update, the county's new blueprint for growth has flown under the radar.

But the League of Women Voters has analyzed the extensive changes proposed by the county and put together a two-volume study guide that is available online at www.fresno.ca.lwvnet.org.

While Fresno County's planning department cooperated with the League on this project, other county departments and officials try their hardest to prevent the public from obtaining important information.

For example, the county fought to block a request by Bee reporter Kurtis Alexander for foster care records on Mikayla Tabin, the 1-month-old who was shaken to death in 2010. Even after a judge ordered the information released, the county dallied in supplying it.

The public has a right to know, too, what Fresno County officials uncovered in their own investigation of how Child Protective Services handled numerous abuse allegations in the months and days before the 2009 beating death of 10-year-old Seth Ireland.

Even after a jury concluded that social workers violated state law numerous times and awarded Ireland's biological father and stepbrother an $8.5 million judgment, of which the county bears 65% responsibility, the county continues to appeal a judge's order to hand over the report to the plaintiffs' lawyers.

Seeing how taxpayers paid for that report, the taxpayers should see it -- the best reason being it could serve as a guide to assess whether the county has since made strides to prevent the murders of more children.