Local Government Website Transparency Awards
It's been four days since <a href="http://www.sunshineweek.org/" target="”_blank”">Sunshine
Week</a> ended, but it's not too late to point out <a href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Main_Page" target="”_blank”">Sunshine Review</a>'s
first <a href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Sunny_Awards" target="”_blank”">Sunny
Awards</a>, given to state and local governments whose websites meet
the organization's transparency guidelines, which consider website
information on budgets, meetings,
elected and administrative officials, permits
and zoning, audits, contracts, lobbying, public records, and
taxes.<br>
<br>
The Sunny Awards aren't really awards, but a listing of all state and
local governments that get a perfect score or a grade of A from Sunshine Review. Besides the 50 states,
Sunshine Review, employing a wiki format, has analyzed the websites of 3,140
counties, 805 cities, and 1,560 school districts. Of those, 39 met
their criteria. Below are the local governments.<br>
<br>
Sunshine Review presents an interesting contrast to Foundation for
Ethics in Public Service, which I wrote about in <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/1076" target="”_blank”">my previous blog post.</a>
Sunshine Review was founded by the <a href="http://www.samadamsalliance.org/" target="”_blank”">Sam Adams Alliance</a>, a
libertarian organization whose blog is critical of such things as
the health care reform bill. But the Sunshine Review, which broke off
from the Sam Adams Alliance this year, appears completely nonpartisan
and nonpolitical.<br>
<br>
Its goal is to put pressure on all state and local governments to
provide the utmost transparency. I hope that the wiki format is not
abused, that is, that the information people provide is both accurate
and nonpartisan.<br>
<br>
I recommend that you <a href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Main_Page" target="”_blank”">check and see</a>
if your city, county, school board, and other local governments have
been rated yet. If they have not, consider rating them yourself.<br>
<br>
<b>Perfect Scores</b><br>
Anderson County, South Carolina
<br>
Carbondale, Illinois
<br>
Clayton County, Georgia
<br>
Cobb County, Georgia
<br>
Davis School District, Utah
<br>
Duval County, Florida
<br>
Harris County, Texas
<br>
Hillsborough County Public Schools, Florida
<br>
Los Angeles County, California
<br>
Owasso, Oklahoma
<br>
Seminole County Public Schools, Florida
<br>
St. Johns County School District, Florida
<br>
Tulsa County, Oklahoma<br>
<br>
<b>A Grades</b><br>
Aiken County, South Carolina
<br>
Avon Grove School District, Pennsylvania
<br>
Brandywine Heights Area School District, Pennsylvania
<br>
Clay County, Missouri
<br>
DuPage County, Illinois
<br>
Evanston, Illinois
<br>
Keller, Texas
<br>
Lake County, Illinois
<br>
Marion County Public Schools, Florida
<br>
Juneau, Alaska
<br>
Palm Beach County School District, Florida
<br>
Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
<br>
Phoenix, Arizona
<br>
Pinal County, Arizona
<br>
Richmond County, Georgia
<br>
Salt Lake County, Utah
<br>
San Francisco County, California
<br>
Williamson County, Texas<br>
<br><br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
---