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Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Berry Rolls Out Sunshine Portal With Website
FOR THE RECORD: The spelling of Sarah Welsh's name has been corrected in this story.By Dan McKay
Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer
Curious about the mayor's credit card statements or how much he pays his political appointees? Would you like to know which trucking companies have city contracts or how much a particular city project cost?
City Hall plans to launch a website today that will provide that information — and a lot more — in a move Mayor Richard Berry says could make Albuquerque one of the most open, accessible municipalities in the nation.
"The fact is, we've got a transparency problem in New Mexico," Berry said Tuesday in a Journal interview. "This is one of the reasons I ran for mayor."
The site is called "ABQ View" and available through www.cabq.gov. Berry said it will provide unprecedented access to city financial information and other data.
The goal, he said, is to "turn the light switch on in New Mexico" and make City Hall more open to public scrutiny. It should lead to increased public trust and government efficiency, Berry said.
His transition team, he said, began working on the effort even before he took office as mayor last Dec. 1. It goes beyond new transparency requirements adopted by city councilors last fall, he said.
The site will include:
• Names, titles and earnings for the mayor's political appointees and other "unclassified" employees, those who aren't part of the main rank-and-file government work force.
• Titles and hourly pay rates for regular city workers in each department. Their names won't be provided on the site but he acknowledged they are public record and would be available upon request.
• The city's checkbook-like ledger showing "every dime that gets spent," Berry said.
• Financial data that can be downloaded into spreadsheets.
• Contracts of city vendors.
• Budget information showing revenues and expenses over time.
• A list of city construction projects, with maps.
Some items that are already available on the city's main website, such as internal audits, will be made easier to find, he said. The City Council's site for legislation and agendas, however, will remain the same as it is now.
Much of the new information will be automated so it can be updated regularly and easily, Berry said.
He said he is sure the public, or perhaps political opponents, will use the site to question city expenses, and he's told department directors to be prepared to defend their work and spending.
Berry noted that New Mexico and its local governments have received mediocre-to-poor grades in the past from watchdog groups. But he said some of those groups were already praising Albuquerque's efforts after getting a preview.
The project will make Albuquerque "a model for other cities and states," an editor for the nonprofit Sunshine Review said in a statement released by the mayor's office.
The editor gave the initiative an A+.
Executive director Sarah Welsh of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government said the site was a big step forward and would place Albuquerque city government "at the forefront of a growing movement."
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