The principle that citizens have the right to know what their leaders are doing is the idea behind Sunshine Week, which each year at this time celebrates laws that promote openness in government. Public records disclosures can expose incompetence, malfeasance, even corruption. But they can also cast light on the often admirable behind-the-scenes work of public servants.

Such was the case in the data dump provided last week by several Island towns in response to records requests from the right-wing American First Legal Foundation. The organization founded by Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policy advisor Stephen Miller sought information related to the Island’s response to the Venezuelan migrants who were deposited on the Island last September in a political stunt orchestrated by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The towns provided the Gazette with the copies of what they sent.

If the organization was hoping to find evidence that significant public funds were expended to help the migrants, it was sorely disappointed. (Let’s leave aside the obvious irony that the cost of finding food and temporary shelter for 50 people was a fraction of the millions in Florida taxpayer dollars spent flying them to Martha’s Vineyard.) Instead, the hundreds of emails and other records that were disclosed add color to a storyline that is already well known: of a speedy, broad-based effort to assess an unforeseen event, mobilize volunteers and direct help to deal with a humanitarian emergency.

Oddly, Florida has a better record for government transparency than Massachusetts, though some legislators in the Sunshine State are now trying to roll that back. In Massachusetts, the state public records law allows for broad access to records of state agencies, commissions, counties and municipalities, but exempts the state legislature, the governor’s office and the judiciary from its requirements – the only state in the nation to exempt all three.

During her election campaign, Gov. Maura Healey said she would not claim the exemption for her office and would seek legislation to open up the judicial and legislative branches to public scrutiny. Since her election, however, the governor has walked back that promise, saying she would deal with public records requests on a case-by-case basis.

Meanwhile, an order created during the pandemic that allows municipalities to hold open meetings remotely is set to expire at the end of this month. As part of its supplemental budget, the state House of Representatives has voted to extend this ability for two more years. A more comprehensive approach is included in bills now pending in the Legislature that would mandate hybrid access to meetings, phasing in the requirement for agencies where the cost would be prohibitive.

Allowing people to see what really goes on in government is critical to building and rebuilding trust in the democratic process, at times revealing the flaws of the system. But sometimes disclosing public records can remind us that many of those who choose public service are truly working for the common good.