An Open Communication to the National Ocean Council and the Northeast Regional Planning Body on Issues of Ethics, Truth, and GIS Mapping

The Northeast Regional Planning Body (NE-RPB) process should be beyond reproach with respect to ethical standards, and the public should never have reason to call into question its trust of the NE-RPB process, or the integrity of the NE-RPB to be guided by principles upon which our democratic republic is based. Based on statements made at the last few minutes of the NE-RPB meeting on April 12, 2013, this open communication discusses issues involving serious ethical and fiduciary concerns for the NE-RPB related to GIS mapping, and issues that appear to have been entirely missed by the NE-RPB, and the National Ocean Council in providing the NE-RPB guidance. This communication specifically focuses on issues flowing from statements made at the end of the April 2013 NE-RPB meeting, and proposes several ways that the National Ocean Policy and/or the NE-RPB initiative can begin addressing these important concerns, as well as make use of open source and open innovation to ensure the National Ocean Policy initiative becomes the success for society it should be