City Spending, VPA "People"

 A new report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Transparency in City Spending, examines the transparency of city spending and rates America’s largest cities based on how much information they provide the public.

The report concludes that some cities are more transparent than others in revealing their spending patterns.

Local municipalities should reflect on how other American cities have unveiled their spending habits to the public.

Transparency in spending is a mixed bag among the seven major cities in this region. City executives are reluctant to reveal too much to the public.

Or they haven’t updated how the public can retrieve information, which prohibits citizens from really getting the information.

It could be a case of staff time, expense or reticence. It has been my opinion for a long time that cities should reveal their spending habits, and I am not the only one in the community who feels the same way.

Norfolk City Manager Marcus Jones vowed to make the city more transparent to its residents when he took office, and his policy of more transparency is apparent among city departments.

But does it go far enough? I think not.

Here’s your chance Mr. Jones to further make an impact on Norfolk residents, communities and the future of the city. 

The report is valuable for how cities convey details about spending.

For example, Cincinnati posts an online checkbook for residents (page 13 of report). It shows year of expenditure, department, fund, major object, expense, vendor name and amount.

Sacramento discloses bids for each contract they issue (page 14). There’s a certain irony that the report mentions Sacramento, isn’t it?

Let’s see what can be done. So I challenge city officials to make this happen. 


VPA People - Don't Ignore the Talent

Time to dance - together

Someone suggested yesterday that my blog indicated that I wanted to get people fired at the Virginia Port Authority.

That’s not the case.

I was merely suggesting that perhaps it’s time for new ideas and a new crop of people to run the show.

The VPA has a large pool of talented individuals. They should be allowed to shine. Unfortunately, many of them have been caught in the whirlpool of politics.

If anything, VPA staff and their families have been subjected to a large amount of uncertainty and anxiety by the governor, the secretary of transportation and the VPA board.

It should cease and the powers to be should desist from their devastating impact on morale, and stop trying to save face.

Duplication?
If you think duplication is rife among the VPA and the Virginia Internationals Inc., the governor, his staff and that commission on reforming state government should take a harder look at the number of redundant and duplicate functions spread across several state agencies that could be done by one.

Try to open a business. Lobby for incentives. I count six agencies that dole out subsidies to companies.

Governor Bob McDonnell says Virginia is open for business.

Maybe so. Just make state agencies more efficient. All state agencies.

Publisher's note: A series of future articles are in the works to address this issue.