I spy an interactive government website

You know how almost every website now has dynamic content, share buttons and is, well, interactive? Well, government websites are kind of new to this idea. If you want proof, check out more than 10 county websites. I guarantee you’ll run into some 1992 clip art or a website that still employs frames.

Which is why I’m delightfully surprised to see the new USDA website launch the Food Atlas, which lets you know what’s available in your area food-wise. (Cook County has 4005 fast food restaurants, 3516 full-service eateries, 1460 grocery stories, 23 supercenters/clubs, 490 convenience stores (806 with gas) and 82 farmers markets).

It’s a small step in the right direction, maybe next I’ll be able to do that for taxes.

H/T: Chicago Tribune

Oregon Attorney General has the right idea

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger is really taking transparency to heart. He’s taking part in a series of talks around the state that invite citizens and the media to suggest improvements to the state’s sunshine law.

The Attorney General is “very eager to hear people’s experiences and take input.” A great idea, since the one thing people want when they are upset or frustrated is a sympathetic ear. The people in attendance for this first talk were happy to have an outlet for their concerns, while a handful tried to point fingers about alleged corruption in the court system.

Still, the general feeling of the citizens in attendance was one of collaboration with the government. One citizen said “It’s not a matter of pointing fingers, it’s ‘let’s be as transparent as possible.’”

The talk went on in the same vein of constructive progress. Attendees made suggestions about how to improve Oregon’s law, including putting public records online, cutting fees and limiting what sometimes can be lengthy responses to public-record requests.

The attorney general’s office has taken several steps to promote government transparency. Kroger’s office has put public records and meetings manuals online, created a citizens guide to public records and meetings for laypersons, and has posted records requests online, among other things. A last step to improve Oregon’s law, according to Kroger, is to take suggestions from the public meetings to the Legislature.

This is exactly the type of personal initiative we believe in at Sunshine Review. Attorney General Kroger takes it one step further by actually asking to hear from people who have experience requesting information. And we think it pays off; the option is either becoming a transparent government voluntarily, or waiting too long until your legitimacy takes a hit and you’re forced to release information.

Gov 2.0 LA “Un-camp” for transparency

Check out some of the ideas taken away from Gov 2.0 LA’s un-camp to work on how we can promote government transparency.

Taxpayer-funded lobbying in South Carolina schools

Most people expect schools to focus on education, but in South Carolina institutions of higher education, the money goes to lobbying.

A recent report has exposed taxpayer-funded lobbying in South Carolina school, with Clemson University lobbying more than any other public or private institution in the state at $1.7 million in the last decade. It’s easy to see how it got to that point when the school has a full-time lobbyist in D.C., a separate contract with a lobbying firm, and it pays its top lobbyist over $180,000.

Has it paid off for the university? Lobbying helped the university:
*Land a $45 million Energy Department grant for wind research in November
*$3 million in federal funding for the International Center for Automotive Research
*Get Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Energy Secretary Steven Chu to visit Clemson.

Clemson may be the biggest spender, but it is not the only one. Claflin University, a private institution in Orangeburg was the second-highest spender, spending $970,000 from 2000 to 2009. And University of South Carolina had a contract valued at more than $200,000 a year over the past five years with a lobbying firm, and currently employs two full-time state lobbyists each making more than $100,000 a year.

One criticism of taxpayer-funded lobbying is that members of Congress who represent the institutions already work to get federal funds for them. This is true for Clemson University:
*Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., successfully requested $1 million for Clemson’s veterinary institute this year
*Representatives Bob Inglis and John Spratt got $1.4 million for a Clemson cyber-institute last year.
Since it seems that lobbying isn’t necessary to a school’s financial wellness, lobbying expenditures are especially noteworthy when universities continue raising prices and tuition.

It’s unclear how this information will influence future school spending. But is obvious that, from now on, schools will have an greater sense of accountability to taxpayers: journalists have let them know that they can find out information, and citizens have let them know that want it.

Sunshine Week Local Hero nominations

All of us government transparency advocates are getting so geeked because Sunshine Week is coming! It’s coming, it’s coming! Yay!

Sunshine Week is the one time of the year when everyone gets to talk about what has been accomplished for open government models and toot the horns of those that have done good the past year.

This year Sunshine Week is focusing on a favorite of mine, local heroes who have worked tireless hours pursuing government transparency. Nominations are due this week, so if you fit the profile make sure to submit your name. Remember, it’s not just a cash prize, but a chance to bask in the glory of the Sunshine movement.

Montana county stays transparent, but not without a fight

Citizens in Montana have had a hard time getting public information, but at least the courts are on their side.

A Billings Gazette reporter had requested in January to see a complaint that had been filed against a county elected official. The complaint prompted the Yellowstone County Commission to hire an independent investigator at taxpayer expense. The reporter’s request was for a copy of the complaint and investigation report, which didn’t identify the complaining party or other private citizens.

District Judge Susan Watters reaffirmed legal precedent by ordering Yellowstone County to produce the requested public documents, saying:

“It is the county’s responsibility to go through the documents and determine what can be released. I believe the county failed to complete their duty that was required of them when the request was made to release the documents.”

Billings Gazette was justifiably annoyed by the whole situation, with an editorial writer stating:

The law doesn’t say that citizens have to wait to see public documents until a court reviews them or wait till a government attorney reviews them. It doesn’t say that citizens have to file written requests or forms. The law says that public officials who have custody of the document are to make it available to the public.

The Gazette notes that the denial could not have been due to privacy concerns, since the newspaper asked for copies of documents that had been redacted to remove the complaining party’s identification. The conclusion, then, is that the government just wanted to withold information because it could.

It is absolutely too much hassle to have to sue the county for information it should be disclosing on its own. The implications are great: a reporter, working for a newspaper, has the resources and the motivation to pursue information until he or she gets it. But sunshine laws exist for regular citizens, too, not just full-time sleuths. In this case, openness won, but it’s just a reminder that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.

County launches stimulus spending transparency website

Following a national trend, Frederick County government launched a website to let residents track how the $15.4 million awarded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be spent on county projects.

The county received seventeen different grants and one $6 million low-interest loan for police, transit, job training, housing and other purposes. You take a looksee at the info here.

“We are pleased to provide this information on the county website as a service to the citizens of Frederick County, and as a means of making this information transparent and available to the general public in our region,” county spokeswoman Robin Santangelo said.

Arizona’s check register is now online

Arizona is posting its entire check register online at AZCheckbook.com. The state is aware of what a huge accomplishment this is, with State Treasurer Dean Martin saying:

“Finally, taxpayers will have Arizona’s checkbook at their fingertips. Now they can see exactly where their hard-earned money is being spent by the government.”

Sunshine Review believes taxpayers deserve to know where their money goes, and this is much more than a privilege. Governments ought to see the price of information as an investment with public scrutiny ultimately saving them–and citizens– money.

The new focus on transparency comes with a promise from the Treasurer’s Office to have complete accounting data posted on the new website as it becomes available each month. It’s a completely laudable accomplishment for Arizona to have moved to the present . However, a small place for improvement involves the Governor’s General Accounting Office, which will only provide historical data from previous years for a fee of $800 for every additional month’s balance requested.

“Unfortunately, we have no appropriation to pay nearly $10,000 per year for this information,” said Treasurer Dean Martin. “We will continue to capture this data monthly going forward, but until the fee is waived or an appropriation provided, year over year comparisons will be limited to fiscal year 2009 and forward.”

So there’s some room for improvement, but acknowledgment of potential change. Still, Sunshine Review hopes other state governments take note and follow the example of Arizona.

Transparency index released on Federal websites

Here at Sunshine Review, we’re all about location, location location. Or rather…local, local, local. We believe that affirmative disclosure needs to start from the bottom up. However, for today I wanted to draw attention to some federal transparency measure. ForeSee released a transparency index for 14 federal websites based on the type of information constituents have access to as well as the usability of the website. I highly advise checking it out!

Get a free iPod from your local government!

Fill out a survey, get a free iPod: this is a much better deal than you think. Most offers only offer the chance of potentially winning an iPod, but this one guarantees it. So why are people so offended about this failsafe offer?

Well, it comes from a Florida school district.

Polk County School district was offering silver iPods Nanos worth $150 each to parents of children with disabilities who complete a 10-minute online survey. This was to come from the $350,000 of federal money from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) the school has set aside to be used specifically for programs for developmentally disabled students.

The Assistant Superintendent of Learning Support, Nancy Woolcock, had defended the now dead iPod giveaway program as a fair trade, giving parents an expensive gift in return for needed education data. But that argument convinced very few.

In this case, it was other government officials that scrutinized and ultimately defeated the idea. Rep. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, expressed concern about the iPod purchase plan and asked school district officials to review it.

Representative Adam Putnam and Senator Kelli Stargel both showed concerned and urged the school board to review the idea. “During these difficult economic times, we must be certain that every dime is being spent efficiently and that this expenditure will actually be used by students or parents and teachers in helping to educate their students,” said Stargel, showing strong concern for correct disbursement of government money. Following suit, the Florida Department of Education on Wednesday instructed school district officials to cease the iPod exchange. According to the FDOE, the funds used in the program should have flowed directly to students, not indirectly through parents.

This is a great example of how powerful public scrutiny of information can be. Once the information of the money being spent on iPods was out, public officials had to respond to it. And once it wqas clear that it was a poor use of taxpayer money, the school district needed to ameliorate the situation. Sunshine only helps taxpayers and the legitimacy of governments in the end.

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