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When Mayor Dwight C. Jones enlisted Richmond City Council members in a conspiracy of silence over the departure of his former chief administrative officer, he had no problem with their lack of transparency.

But now that the mayor and council are at odds over school funding, that confidentiality agreement he persuaded some of them to sign to remain mum about Byron Marshall is an inconvenient memory.

During a news conference last week, Jones called for increased transparency from council members in pushing them to release the changes they submitted to the council staff to close an $18 million deficit between the school budget and the mayor’s.

Jones, on transparency, has suddenly gotten religion. He wants to open the doors and windows and raise the blinds so that all might watch the sausage making and horse trading of the budget process.

Providing more money to the schools would require taking away from “other critical services,” Jones warned. And yes, where the money is coming from is the million-dollar question. But the transparency angle is an interesting posture for a mayor who prefers to communicate through spokespeople and keep his staff on message, if not beneath a cone of silence.