Council Member Ben Kallos Applauds Checkbook NYC Improvements
The following statement can be attributed to Council Member Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan) on improvements to Checkbook NYC:
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Good Government
As founder of WikiLaw.org, I believe that the Government and its body of law should be transparent for the people it governs. As founder of VoterSearch.org, I believe that protecting your right to vote is essential to an accountable government. As former Co-Chair of Community Board 8's Communication Committee, I worked to open the community board by announcingcommunity board membership applications and ensuring they were widely available at meetings. I have continued my work with Community Board 8's Communication Committee and we have made its television show "Community Board 8 Speaks" available online.
As your City Council member I will continue the work of making City Hall transparent by making its business available online through the web, PDF, podcast, and YouTube like videos. I will openCity Hall by creating NYC.OpenLegislation.org, a local version of OpenCongress.org, where anyone will be able to share their views on all business, in support of the mission of theParticipatory Politics Foundation. City Hall will become accountable to you the people as NYC.OpenLegislation.org, will let you track business before City Hall and how your representative voted on issues of importance to you.
As your City Council member I will continue the work of making City Hall transparent by making its business available online through the web, PDF, podcast, and YouTube like videos. I will openCity Hall by creating NYC.OpenLegislation.org, a local version of OpenCongress.org, where anyone will be able to share their views on all business, in support of the mission of theParticipatory Politics Foundation. City Hall will become accountable to you the people as NYC.OpenLegislation.org, will let you track business before City Hall and how your representative voted on issues of importance to you.
Mayor Bill de Blasio Signs Two Transparency Bills into Law, Announces Public-Private Partnership to Release City Record Data
“Open government means laws and notices are online, where New Yorkers expect to find them,” said Council Member Ben Kallos. “Now, public information printed daily in the City Record, such as meetings, contracts, and City planning, will be online, complete and up to date, so residents can make informed choices and data analysts can help us achieve a smarter city. Putting the law online upholds Hammurabi’s legacy of making the law public on stone tablets millenia ago. In the 21st Century, that means putting all laws online, continuously updated, and Council Member Lander’s Open Law legislation does exactly that. Under Mayor de Blasio, technology and open government to spur business, improve government and close the digital divide, are priorities. I thank him, Speaker Mark-Viverito, and all the activists who worked on this for turning these ideas into law.”
Sunlight Foundation Joins Free Law Founders
The Free Law Founders (FLF) today announced that The Sunlight Foundation has joined the FLF coalition to overhaul how America’s state-and-local governments make laws, deliver access to legislative and law data, and engage citizens online. Sunlight joins the growing network of government officials, citizens and civic software developers working to reinvent how democracy works on the Internet with the FLF, including: NYC Council Member Ben Kallos, San Francisco Supervisor Mark Farrell, Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza, Boston Principal Data Scientist Curt Savoie, The MIT Human Dynamics Lab, The OpenGov Foundation and the Participatory Politics Foundation.
