Results tagged “transparency”

We were excited to learn that EveryBlock co-founder Daniel X. O'Neil was working with Harper Reed of Threadless fame to develop a new online gadget - but it's not the hyper-local t-shirt you might immediately presume (pretty please?). Instead, the pair produced a new city government transparency toy: CityPayments. And it's likely to be all the rage among us reporters as it gathers momentum. But what does it do? And why do we care?

A new ordinance will give Chicago aldermen at least 60 days to review major city lease agreements and sales in the city. The law, which was approved by the city council June 3, permits aldermen to call in independent auditors before the city contracts are put out to bid. It also allows the council to call on the office of the inspector general for review agreements, though the council retains its usual responsibility for review.

Ald. Manny Flores (1st) is still fighting the bacterial infection that is traditional Chicago politics - with sunshine. First he, with Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), pushed hard enough to pass the so-called TIF Sunshine Ordinance. Then he and Ald. Ed Burke (14th) won the baby bottle battle last week. Then he proposed even more legislation requiring city government to clear up its muddy financing via online publishing. And somewhere in there, he was the first alderman to attract our attention to the plight of charity magazine Streetwise. So what's he up to this time? More transparency, combined with his favorite constituent-focused hobbies: social media and cable television.

Chicago Aldermen Manuel Flores (1st), Rey Colon (35th), and Brendan Reilly (42nd) proposed The City Asset Lease Agreement Disclosure Ordinance Wednesday that will require documents related to the lease and sale of city assets (i.e., parking meters, downtown parking lots, the Skyway and Midway Airport) to be published and tracked publicly. The ordinance applies to agreements worth more than $10 million.

An ordinance submitted by aldermen Manny Flores (1st) and Scott Waguespack (32nd) intended to implement more government transparency in Chicago planning and development passed through city council today by a unanimous 48-0 vote. The ordinance, unprecedented in Chicago, requires all documents related to tax increment financing districts (one of the city's most notoriously murky development funding schemes) to be posted online in an easy-to-use, searchable format.