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Only twelve of sixty-seven counties receive passing marks
buy online cialis — Alabama Counties overwhelmingly received failing grades when it comes to transparency, according to Sunshine Review (). A project of the Sam Adams Alliance, the government transparency website has released transparency grades for all . Each county was evaluated against a and issued a grade to determine how open and honest they are with the public they serve. The checklist requires that information about budgets, meetings, elected and administrative officials, permits and zoning, audits, contracts, lobbying, public records, and taxes be made easily accessible online.
According to the Sunshine Review findings, Alabama’s most transparent county is , which earned a C-minus and met only six points on the checklist. Sunshine Review also uncovered that twenty-eight counties in Alabama do not have a website, resulting in the total number of counties receiving an “F” to fifty-five.
“The Sunshine Review community believes every county in the nation has a responsibility to make basic information easily available to the taxpayer,” said Kristin McMurray, managing editor of Sunshine Review. “We urge Alabama residents to use the results of these evaluations to push for reform in their counties.”
During the evaluation process Sunshine Review learned that simple information like budgets was only posted on three county websites, and meeting schedules could only be found on eight. Only sixteen counties made tax information accessible online.
“Citizens deserve to know what their government is doing and how their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent,” McMurray said. “We hope county officials will welcome our findings and begin taking the necessary steps to achieve greater open and honest government by meeting all ten points on the transparency checklist.”
Go to the Sunshine Review page to see how open and honest your county government is being with you.
Contacts:
Kristin McMurray, Managing Editor
Sunshine Review
312-920-0080 ext. 311
kmcmurray@samadamsalliance.org
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ByJournal Times staff
Monday, Jul. 6, 2009, 2:14 pm
RACINE COUNTY — It might be passing, but Racine County gets a C- for transparency on its Web site http://racineco.com, based on the findings of a project conducted by the Sam Adams Alliance, a conservative organization from Chicago that promotes government transparency and accountability.
The group’s online project, the Sunshine Review http://www.sunshinereview.org, released transparency scores for all 72 county Web sites in Wisconsin. Each county was evaluated against a 10-point transparency checklist and issued a grade to determine how open and honest they are with the public they serve.
According to the Sunshine Review findings, Brown, Dane, Outagamie and Ozaukee County Web sites received the highest marks, meeting seven points on the checklist, receiving an overall grade of B minus. Jackson County received one point, while Green, Florence and Lafayette County managed to receive two points, the four counties each received failing grades. Two counties don’t have Web sites.
The checklist, developed by Sunshine Review, requires information regarding budgets, meetings, elected and administrative officials, permits and zoning, audits, contracts, lobbying, public records and taxes be made easily accessible online.
Racine County missed points for not having posted on the county Web site information about contracts, lobbying and public records and only partial information about taxes.
“The Sunshine Review community believes every county in the nation has a responsibility to make basic information easily available to the taxpayer,” Kristin McMurray, managing editor of Sunshine Review, said in a news release. “We urge Wisconsin citizens to use the results of these evaluations to push for reform in their counties.”
What is Sunshine Review?
Sunshine Review is a wiki Web site that collects and shares information about transparency, government spending, political corruption, taxpayer-funded lobbying and open records laws.
It provides a way for citizens to keep tabs on their government, hold it accountable, and reform wasteful, fraudulent, and corrupt behavior uncovered by measures of transparency.
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buy online cialis – Todd Stroger made Cook County political history today when he stepped up to the plate and became the highest ranking county official to sign the Transparency in Government Pledge. The pledge is part of the Open Illinois project of the Illinois Policy Institute and the government transparency website Sunshine Review (www.sunshinereview.org), a project of the Sam Adams Alliance.
“We commend President Stroger for signing the Transparency in Government Pledge,” said John Tsarpalas, Sam Adams Alliance President. “Open and honest government is the ‘responsibility’ of all elected officials, and any effort to engage in transparency is a step in the right direction.”
The Sam Adams Alliance received a letter from Mr. Stroger’s office that contained a signed pledge with a witness signature from the president. The form was dated May 26, 2009, and did contain two inserted words. Responsible, was added in front of the words efforts to implement, referring to “greater transparency” and “comprehensive transparency program.”
“I contacted Mr. Stroger’s office on the 15 of May to discuss the need for open and honest government in Cook County and to ask him to sign the pledge,” said Paul Miller, Communications Director for the Sam Adams Alliance. “I wasn’t able to get through to him, but an aide, Dawn Austin, asked me to send her the pledge and she would present it to Mr. Stroger.”
President Stroger included a personal letter with his pledge that indicated his pride in the current level openness in Cook County government:
I have reviewed the Sunshine Review Ten-Point Transparency Checklist and I am proud Cook County discloses a wealth of information on our website.
A significant initiative was the redesign of the county’s website which now provides access to much of the information suggested for county websites by the Sunshine Review. As the website continues to evolve, additional information contained in the Checklist will be made accessible.
“The Sunshine Review community will continue to watch Cook County and every county website in the country and report on their level of transparency,” said Miller. “We look forward to Mr. Stroger following through on his pledge to meet the criteria for all ten points of the transparency checklist.”
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buy online cialis – The government transparency website Sunshine Review (www.sunshinreview.org), a project of the Sam Adams Alliance, is proud to report that our community of contributors has completed transparency evaluations for all 3,140 counties in the United States. Each county was measured against a 10-point transparency checklist to determine how open and honest they are with the public they serve.
“Every county in the nation has a responsibility to make basic information easily available online to the taxpayer,” said Managing Editor, Kristin McMurray. “Sunshine Review has made it simple for counties to understand their responsibilities as we have created the standard for them to abide by.”
The checklist criteria measures if basic information such as budgets, taxes, contracts, and lobbying efforts, as well as information about public officials and administrators, can be easily accessed from the county website.
As a result of the county evaluations, Sunshine Review created a comparison chart detailing the transparency success, and failures of each state, while at the same time giving them an overall ranking. Arizona edged out California for the most transparent counties, while Arkansas is sitting in the cellar with the lowest transparency ranking.
“The Sam Adams Alliance believes that open and honest government is the cornerstone to a successful democracy,” said Sam Adams Alliance President, John Tsarpalas. “A quick look at the comparison of county websites by state chart and it’s obvious that all states have a long way to go before they can claim they are open and honest with the public. Even the states that have the top rankings need to not rest on their laurels and continue to strive for true transparency.
The Sunshine Review community will continue to monitor the transparency efforts of county governments nationwide. We are hopeful that politicians seriously consider these evaluations and if they haven’t already, create transparency projects based on the10-point transparency checklist; so they can one day proudly say they are completely open and honest with the public they serve.
“With the county reviews completed, the Sunshine Review community has begun evaluating the nearly 13,000 school districts in the country,” said McMurray. “We have created a school district transparency checklist that is similar to the county checklist. Sunshine Review believes parents should also easily be able to find information about academic performance and teacher background checks on their school districts website.
Contacts:
Kristin McMurray, Managing Editor
Sunshine Review
312-920-0080 ext 311
Paul Miller, Communications Director
Sam Adams Alliance
312-920-0080 ext 302
312-845-3501 cell
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