St. Charles Parish gets the memo

What is that? The sweet smell of better government? A few months ago, Sunshine Review sent out its evaluation of Louisiana parish websites, and, as a direct consequence, St. Charles Parish is updating updated its website to include its budget and how to obtain public records. From the Times-Picayune:

The new site also contains more information than the old site, partly in response to a review of the parish’s old Web site by the Sunshine Review, a Chicago nonprofit that lobbies for more transparency in government. Simpson said the parish added the parish’s budget, audit and other financial information to the site in response to an August 2008 review of the Web sites of Louisiana parishes by the Sunshine Review, which recruits citizens to grade public Web sites on the amount of information they contain.

Thank you, St. Charles Parish, for being responsive and accountable to the taxpayers in your parish. Now who’s next???

Sunshine Review in the News

The Advocate lauded the work of Sunshine Review on examining Louisiana parish websites.

After surveying parish government Web sites in Louisiana’s 64 parishes, the Sunshine Review discovered the following:

* Thirty-three parish Web sites inform residents about who the elected officials of the parish are; 25 parish Web sites do not. Six such Web sites give partial information.
* Only 15 parish Web sites post the parish budget.
* Only four parish Web sites tell residents how to file a public records request through Louisiana’s Public Records Law.
* Thirty parish Web sites inform residents about public meetings. Thirty-three do not, and one gives partial information.
* Only nine parish Web sites include information on building permits and zoning.
* Only two parish Web sites provide information on parish contracts.

“Technology can be used to make government more transparent than ever,” said John Tsarpalis (sic), vice president of the alliance.

We agree, and we hope more parish governments do a better job of providing information on the Internet for the people they’re supposed to serve.

Post-Gustav, please go ahead and continue to do the work needed to open up government to LA taxpayers.

LA parish websites lack information

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2008

For more information:
Isabel Santa, (305) 431-8381

Tackling Parish Websites Can Enhance Transparency

A new website helps Louisianans know more about their parish websites

Chicago, IL – In an effort to ensure good government across the country, the Sam Adams Alliance launched Sunshine Review, a new, wiki-style website focused on evaluating the accessibility of government information and data on government websites. Recently, Sunshine Review users evaluated all 64 parish websites, finding a lack of transparency in over a third of them.

“Sunshine Review was created to make sure citizens nationwide have access to the information they need on government websites,” said John Tsarpalas, vice president of the Sam Adams Alliance.

According to a parish evaluation report on Sunshine Review, many Louisianans are in the dark on who is spending their tax dollars and where it is going. Currently, 25 parish websites don’t provide details about elected officials or their contact information, 33 don’t list meeting schedules or minutes, and 33 don’t post yearly budgets.

“Sunshine Review is performing a vital service to the citizens of Louisiana by identifying the shortcomings of local government websites,” said Kevin Kane, president of the Pelican Institute for Public Policy. “How can we become informed voters without access to such basic information? These wiki-style websites will play an important role in the movement to reform state and local government and Sunshine Review is leading the way.”

Launched in July 2008, Sunshine Review wants citizens everywhere to easily be able to locate basic facts about local governments on city, county and school district websites. The “My Government Website Project” on Sunshine Review has already initiated ratings of local government websites in 10 states. The website evaluation project is part of Sunshine Review’s No Taxation Without Information campaign.

“Technology should be used to make government more transparent than ever. We need to break this informational iron curtain between government and the people,” Tsarpalas said.

During the legislature’s ethics special session earlier in the year, Governor Jindal passed legislation that would increase transparency by creating a searchable database of state spending online.

About Sunshine Review
Sunshine Review is a Wikipedia-like website that enables people to find and share information about whether state and local governments are effective, easy to reach, open, honest and responsible with taxpayer money. Sunshine Review is a project of the Sam Adams Alliance, a national non-profit organization that strives to educate and inform citizens about political issues through new media tools.

For more information about Sunshine Review or to request an interview, please contact Isabel Santa at (305) 431-8381 or izzy@samadamsalliance.org

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