Sunlight Weekly Round-up: Open Government lives to see another day in Tennessee

3 views
Skip to first unread message

Zubedah Nanfuka

unread,
Jun 9, 2011, 5:55:27 PM6/9/11
to transparen...@googlegroups.com
Hi all,

This week in open government, Tennessee managed to keep some anti-open government bills at bay: but for how long? Read about the bills that were introduced this year including Mayor Rahm's plan for "Sunshine" in Chicago, on the Sunlight blog:
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2011/06/09/sunlight-weekly-round-up/

This year brought on a wave of open government bills in Tennessee. Though most had been created to restrict access to public records, some were in fact, in support of making public records accessible. Jack McElroy, who seemed to have ruffled a few feathers (note the comments section), presents a descriptive round-up of all the bills: courtesy of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government. The anti-open government bills may be revived next year, but for now McElroy is happy to celebrate the success. Find out who introduced which bill on The upFront Page.
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/editor/2011/06/2011-open-government-fight-was.shtml

Ohioans now have a tool to compare their salaries with those received by state workers. Created by the Buckeye Institute of Public Policy, the Government Compensation Comparison Tool shows a representation of compensation packages for Ohio’s government employees by profession for the year 2010. A former public official herself, Maggie Thurber made a varying comparison from cashiers to janitors from both the public and private sector and concluded that state workers are paid more than their private sector counterparts. See  the breakdown on Thurber’s Thoughts.
http://buckeyeinstitute.org/
http://buckeyeinstitute.org/job-comparison
http://thurbersthoughts.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-comparison-tool-shows-state-workers.html

Ever wondered whether government transparency laws apply to private entities? Frayda Bluestein unpacks several cases in North Carolina that explain conditions in which local contractors can be subjected to open government rules. She uses the example of  Wake County Hospital System that was once a government agency, then later became independently owned. The hospital was subject to the public records act because it was operating as a government agency whenever the News & Observer Publishing Co requested for a public record from them. In most cases, the courts decide the kind of relationship a private entity has with government and that determines if the former is subject to the law. She lists more factors that can help you decide, on NC Local Government Law blog.   
http://sogweb.sog.unc.edu/blogs/localgovt/?p=4676

A new citizen activist in Virginia is taking on civic groups that give the appearance of broad public involvement in constituents without presenting proof of that involvement. Alan P. Alborn  from Prince William county is proposing the use of social networking tools including web sites and wikis, to create virtual "civic associations" that are aimed at reaching a specific geographic area on-line. He is confident that this will improve the process of government by encouraging more public participation. Alborn feels that local government may not embrace this idea because they think it could “slow things down” and cause transparency but he is ready for them to be as slow as they want, as long as they do so while facilitating public participation. Read all about his endless options on how to use collaborative tools on Albornbiz.
http://albornbiz.blogspot.com/2011/06/wikigovernment-you-cant-keep-doing-same.html

Open government in Chicago is about to get a face-lift. Blogger Mick Dumke sat down with mayor Rahm’s tech and data chiefs who gave him a rundown on how and when the city plans to unveil its plan.  While describing an open and participatory government as one of the goals outlined in a report by the Mayor’s transition team, Dumke reveals through his interview with the chiefs that the quality of the city’s record keeping has been a main concern with the residents. See how the mayor’s staffers plan to use data for transparency but carefully avoid FOIA related questions on Bleader.

http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/06/02/open-government-in-chicago-rahms-tech-and-data-chiefs-swear-its-coming







Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages