No excuse for ignorance on public’s right to know
Some city of Beaufort officials say they will consider formal training to teach board and commission members about public-meeting and public-records law.
The need for instruction was made starkly evident when the Historic District Review Board violated the S.C. Freedom of Information Act by adjourning a recent meeting and continuing to discuss board business with a quorum present.
[…]
Read More… from No excuse for ignorance on public’s right to know
Nicholas Co. (W VA) Commission gets lesson in ethics & open meetings law
Public business must be carried out in the open. That’s self-evident, but it still does not always happen.
The latest example of the failure of a local government in West Virginia to be open about the public’s business comes from the Nicholas County Commission.
Last August, the Commission hired Roger Beverage as the county administrator at a salary of $60,000 a year. A local citizen, Tim Clifford, challenged the hiring, claiming the Commission acted illegally.
[…]
Read More… from Nicholas Co. (W VA) Commission gets lesson in ethics & open meetings law
Peace Corps for Geeks’ in Lexington to focus on more effective, interactive city
Three fellows from Code for America – the “Peace Corps for Geeks” – arrived in Lexington today to begin a 10-month partnership focused on improving neighborhood quality of life through more effective and interactive city government.
Winning a highly competitive selection process, Lexington is one of just 10 governments nationwide to get the opportunity to participate in Code for America this year.
[…]
Read More… from Peace Corps for Geeks’ in Lexington to focus on more effective, interactive city
Chicago lays out next steps in Open Data Plan
City of Chicago officials released a report Friday laying out a next set of goals for routine publication of data from city agencies.
The first annual City of Chicago Open Data Report resulted from a December 2012 executive order of Mayor Rahm Emanuel that required city agencies to publish data and metadata to a public portal. The information includes civic employee salaries, lobbyist data, budget data and more.
[…]
Read More… from Chicago lays out next steps in Open Data Plan
Los Angeles Doubles Down on Open Government with Chief Innovation Officer Hire
Continuing a recent trend of embracing innovation and open government, Los Angeles shored up its reputation even more by appointing the city’s first Chief Innovation Officer this week. Peter Marx, appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, will be tasked with making over the city’s website and mobile app. He will also represent a key cog in the wheel of open government by overseeing the release of the data collected by city agencies.
[…]
Read More… from Los Angeles Doubles Down on Open Government with Chief Innovation Officer Hire
Open data gurus share best practices
In honor of Data Innovation Day the city of Philadelphia released a guidebook to provide advice and information to city departments and agencies on releasing open data. The city’s Open Data Guidebook offers suggestions on reviewing data for completeness and accuracy, adding metadata components and terms of use as well as staging the data and using application programming interfaces.
[…]
Local Watchdog Group Suing City Attorney
A San Diego watchdog group is suing the city attorney, saying he is using his personal email account to do the city's business.
San Diegans for Open Government is accusing Jan Goldsmith of hiding behind his private email account so he will not have to turn over certain emails. Attorney Cory Briggs is suing Goldsmith on behalf of SDOG, or San Diegans for Open Government.
[…]
NR: Canadian company announces Community plaftorm for open data
Civic Dynamics has announced its formation and unveiled its Civic Dynamics Platform (CDP), the first truly dynamic, open-data platform for local governments. CDP's underlying open-source software and supporting systems enable municipalities to publish open government data in a dynamic format that allows citizens to easily view, mix, match and analyze it. The company is a partnership with two U.S. companies, Structured Dynamics, open data and semantic technology experts, and Buzzr, a Drupal-based hosted content management platform for building affordable yet robust websites.
[…]
Read More… from NR: Canadian company announces Community plaftorm for open data
Mayor and City Clerk at odds over responsibility for FOIA requests
The city of Belleville (IL) will use a new procedure and web system to handle requests for public records following tension between the mayor and city clerk.
Since the municipal election in April, Mayor Mark Eckert and City Clerk Dallas Cook have been at odds over whose job it is to gather and release public information.
[…]
Read More… from Mayor and City Clerk at odds over responsibility for FOIA requests