12/3/13

Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability Meeting Today, March 19, 2012 | Greater City Providence

Navigation

Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability Meeting Today, March 19, 2012
by Jef Nickerson on March 19, 2012 in Government

The Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability is a new commission set up by the Taveras Administration to, well, to do what the name says. The Legislation enabling the Commission is at the bottom of this post. Their first meeting is today (sorry to say I received notice of this on Friday, but am just getting around to posting). Todays meeting being their first, it will consist mostly of organizing and the Commissioners getting to know each other. It is open to the public but there wont be a public comment period on this meeting. I hope to get notice of their future meetings posted in a more timely fashion.

Agenda:

Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability

March 19, 2012 5:30pm The Conference Room, Third Floor, City Hall, 25 Dorrance Street, Providence, RI 02903 1. Welcome and overview of City Council Resolution creating commission from John Marion, Chairman. 2. Election of Vice Chairperson 3. Discussion relative to upcoming meetings and schedule.

www.gcpvd.org/2012/03/19/open-providence-commission-for-transparency-and-accountability-meeting-today-march-19/

1/11

12/3/13

Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability Meeting Today, March 19, 2012 | Greater City Providence

Legislation passed by the City Council:

RESOLUTION CREATING THE OPEN PROVIDENCE COMMISSION FOR TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
WHEREAS, the Providence City Council and the Mayor of Providence are united in their belief that open and transparent government is essential for citizens to make informed decisions and hold officials accountable for the conduct of the peoples business; and WHEREAS, the policies and practices of the City of Providence should adhere to high standards which instill trust and confidence of local government in its citizens; and WHEREAS, a public commitment by the Providence City Council and the Mayor of Providence to open government, transparency and establishment of new standards, as well as mechanisms to enact those standards, will facilitate the expansion of the publics access to its government; and WHEREAS, uncomplicated and timely access to public records, and a means of recourse regarding those records, is the peoples ultimate defense from government corruption; and WHEREAS, in the spirit of the sentiment Sunshine is the best disinfectant, as stated by United States Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, the City of Providence must make public records and processes transparent and open to public scrutiny in order to expose any government misconduct; and WHEREAS, the peoples right to know the process of governmental decision-making and to review the documents and statistics leading to determinations is basic to our society; and WHEREAS, advances in communications and information technologies have created more opportunities for the public to access information; and WHEREAS, fundamental to democracy is the right of the public to know what City government is doing, and how to access the various City departments, staff members, data and official documents; and WHEREAS, the City of Providence posts public meetings and provides public records by request, in accordance with Rhode Island General Laws, 42-46-8(a), the

www.gcpvd.org/2012/03/19/open-providence-commission-for-transparency-and-accountability-meeting-today-march-19/

2/11

12/3/13

Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability Meeting Today, March 19, 2012 | Greater City Providence

Open Meetings Act, and 38-2-8(b), the Access to Public Records Act; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability is hereby created. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission shall be chaired by John Marion, Executive Director of Common Cause Rhode Island and shall consist of fifteen (15) members: four to be named by the Mayor of the City of Providence, four to be named by the City Council President, and the following members (or their respective designees): the City Clerk, the City Solicitor, the Chief Information Officer, the Webmaster, the Director of ProvStat, and the Information Technology Specialist for the Providence City Council. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission shall perform an organizational assessment of the existing Open Government and public information technology, policies, and procedures and establish goals for increasing access to information, government accountability and transparency. To this end the Commission should: 1. Propose a mechanism to make public information, hearings and votes accessible by suggesting changes to the way information is organized and presented on the Citys website; and 2. Investigate current technologies and propose the development of a state of the art citizen dashboard and applications to provide new capabilities that government departments can harness to improve services and responsiveness to its constituency at a lower cost; and 3. Develop a feasible plan for implementation with consideration of the challenges inherent in the training and cultural change which is necessary for the adoption of new policies and technologies within city government. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission shall include in its research the best practices regionally and nationally that have achieved quantifiable results. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission shall work to identify sources of funding to support the changes needed to make the City of Providence more open and accountable to its constituency, as laid out in this Resolution. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission shall organize a public hearing, engage relevant community, business and labor stakeholders, and invite appropriate administrative staff to provide important internal and external information. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that ninety (90) days from the date of the passage of this Resolution, the Commission shall report its findings and recommendations to establish in the City of Providence an open and accountable government.
www.gcpvd.org/2012/03/19/open-providence-commission-for-transparency-and-accountability-meeting-today-march-19/ 3/11

12/3/13

Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability Meeting Today, March 19, 2012 | Greater City Providence

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Chairman John Marion, Common Cause of RI CC Appointee Andrew Law CC Appointee Jim Lucht CC Appointee Pamelee Murphy CC Appointee Allan Tear Mayor Appointee Elaine Collins Mayor Appointee Nelson Rocha Mayor Appointee John F. Speck Mayor Appointee Karina Wood The City Clerk, Anna Stetson The City Solicitor, Jeffrey Padwa The Chief Information Officer, Jim Silveria The Webmaster, Paul DiCecco The Director of ProvStat, Pamela Cardillo The Information Technology Specialist for the Providence City Council, Felicia Ingram

Used Cars From $1000

AutoList.com /Use dC ars Se arch From 2.3 Million C ars. C om pare and Ge t the Be st De al Now!

Share:

Facebook 10

Twitter 6

Pinterest

Email

More

About Jef Nickerson

Jef is Greater City Providence's co-founder, editor, and publisher. He grew up on Cape Cod and lived in Boston; Portland, Maine; and New York before settling in Providence. In addition to urbanism, Jef is interested in art, design, and ice cream. Please feel free to contact Jef if you have any question or comments about Greater City Providence. View all posts by Jef Nickerson

Subscribe

Related Posts: Downtown Design Review Committee Meeting December 9, 2013 GC: Photos
www.gcpvd.org/2012/03/19/open-providence-commission-for-transparency-and-accountability-meeting-today-march-19/ 4/11

12/3/13

Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability Meeting Today, March 19, 2012 | Greater City Providence

Providence Launches Open Meetings Portal City Plan Commission Meeting November 19, 2013 State defiantly moves ahead with surface parking

Accountability, Commission , Government, Open Providence , Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability, Providence , Transparency
GC: Photos News & Notes

5 Responses to Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability Meeting Today, March 19, 2012
Jason March 19, 2012 at 1:38 pm #
Someone whos going please bring up how awful the servers are that provide access to real estate/property information? Very slow. Also, very difficult to actually dump the data for analysis.

Jef Nickerson March 19, 2012 at 2:03 pm #

Theres no public comment today, and John Speck, who would be the one most in tune with that opinion is actually out of the country and will miss todays meeting. But I have no doubt that John Speck will be beating the drum on improving our IT.

John Marion March 19, 2012 at 3:25 pm #

Thanks, Jason, for your input. I would urge anyone who has any ideas about how to make City government more open, transparent, and accountable, to share your thoughts. I hope well be able to put up a dedicated page just for the commission to seek input. Until then, Ill keep checking these comments for those who care to share.

jencoleslaw March 19, 2012 at 5:00 pm #

www.gcpvd.org/2012/03/19/open-providence-commission-for-transparency-and-accountability-meeting-today-march-19/

5/11

12/3/13

Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability Meeting Today, March 19, 2012 | Greater City Providence

when i saw the headline i thought it was a resolution to make the 195 Commission more transparent and open. Wishful thinking!

Jef Nickerson March 19, 2012 at 7:51 pm #

HA!

Leave a Reply
Name (required)

Email (w ill not be published) (required)

Website

SUBMIT COMMENT Notify me of follow -up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.

Search...

Subscribe

www.gcpvd.org/2012/03/19/open-providence-commission-for-transparency-and-accountability-meeting-today-march-19/

6/11

12/3/13

Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability Meeting Today, March 19, 2012 | Greater City Providence

Contact Have a tip or something youve written youd like us to post? Contact Us and let us know.

POPULAR

LATEST

COMMENTS

Read the Providence Bicycling Master Plan

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

PBN: Free parking has done little to spur commuter-rail use

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Photos: Arcade re-opened!

OCTOBER 21, 2013

ProJo: Commission meets to discuss possible Garrahy Complex parking garage

OCTOBER 24, 2013

News & Notes

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

Flickr

www.gcpvd.org/2012/03/19/open-providence-commission-for-transparency-and-accountability-meeting-today-march-19/

7/11

12/3/13

Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability Meeting Today, March 19, 2012 | Greater City Providence

Greater City: Providence

Like 1,411 people like Greater City: Providence.

Facebook social plugin

www.gcpvd.org/2012/03/19/open-providence-commission-for-transparency-and-accountability-meeting-today-march-19/

8/11

12/3/13

Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability Meeting Today, March 19, 2012 | Greater City Providence

Tweets
Gr. City Providence @gcpvd New website for @195Commission. 195district.com Expand Providence R.I. CVB @ProvidenceRI

Follow 4h

7h

Rhode Islander Hopes To Immortalize Cartoon Dog In Providence bit.ly/1bdzTMm via @RINPR Retweeted by Gr. City Providence Expand OpenPVD @OpenPVD Audio files now up on Open Meetings portal starting with City Properties committee meeting. Great things happening! providenceri.iqm2.com/Citizens/Split
5h

Tweet to @gcpvd

Providence Weather
Today Wednesday Thursday Friday

Partly Cloudy 50/28

Partly Cloudy 48/32

Chance of Rain 52/46

Chance of Rain 55/39

City Meetings
Providence Board of Park Commissioners December 05, 2013 09:00 AM Providence Task Force on Economic Development -December 03, 2013 06:00 PM Providence Community Library - Development Committee -December 05, 2013 04:30 PM Providence Board of Licenses -December 04, 2013 01:00 PM Providence Board of Licenses -December 05, 2013 01:00 PM Providence Property Revaluation Sub-Committee
www.gcpvd.org/2012/03/19/open-providence-commission-for-transparency-and-accountability-meeting-today-march-19/ 9/11

12/3/13

Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability Meeting Today, March 19, 2012 | Greater City Providence

on Internal Policies & Procedures -December 04, 2013 05:30 PM Providence Board of Canvassers -December 03, 2013 02:30 PM Providence Zoning Board of Review -December 04, 2013 05:30 PM Providence Environmental Sustainability Task Force -December 05, 2013 10:00 AM Providence Property Revaluation Sub-Committee on Statewide Standards -December 04, 2013 05:30 PM

Providence Corporate Meeting Executive Meeting Rooms

Archives
Select Month

Donate

www.gcpvd.org/2012/03/19/open-providence-commission-for-transparency-and-accountability-meeting-today-march-19/

10/11

12/3/13

Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability Meeting Today, March 19, 2012 | Greater City Providence

Greater City Providence is a resource that we hope you appreciate and enjoy. Our readers 0.00 Donate are able to enjoy the site at no cost to them. However, there are some costs to us. Your donation helps us cover the costs of keeping the site online, and allows us to continue to provide a platform for the discussion of vital urban issues in the city and region. If you are willing and able to make a donation, it will be greatly appreciated. Greater City Providence is not a non-profit and as such, though your donation is greatly appreciated, it is not tax-deductible.

Store

Greater City Providence square button

"I Walk Providence" Mug

"I Bike Providence" Mug See More

Providence Pride T-shirt

2013 Greater City Providence. All Rights Reserved. Powered by WordPress. Designed by

www.gcpvd.org/2012/03/19/open-providence-commission-for-transparency-and-accountability-meeting-today-march-19/

11/11