#3 - Open Up City Processes

“The work product of public employees is public record, with rights of full access by any citizen, constrained only by privacy rights. If that openness winnows out certain public employees, so much the better. Again, digital technologies can deliver that information access and assist in raising - beforehand - the important issues that get smothered by the eye-glazing boilerplate items and staff recommendations in public meetings.”

• SET UP multiple outlets of comprehensive city-wide announcements of meetings, committees, workshops, and presentations scheduled for citizen attendance and input.
• Give HIGH PRIORITY to records retention and HIGHEST PRIORITY to public records requests, retrieval, and delivery to citizens.
• REORIENT one-stop permit shop jargon and processes to be geared to citizens, not just project developers (ex., engineered drawings for masonry screens for garbage cans?)
• SET UP city hall satellite office(s) for bill payments or most common transactions only.
• ESTABLISH ombudsman office for citizens observing waste or experiencing city bureaucracy bumbling or buck-passing.