Category: Government
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EveryBlock hyperlocal strategy and government data
I lead the effort to obtain government data at EveryBlock. Here’s msnbc.com President Charlie Tillinghast talking about our local strategy: Tillinghast says that demand can be met by EveryBlock, which is attempting to become a hyperlocal resource by gathering and organizing info from government agencies, and then tasking local users to provide block-by-block news. “We’re…
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Presentation: Politics Session at ORD Camp
Today John Bracken. Paul Smith, and a bunch of others had a session on using the Internet in political campaigns. I talked about my experience as New Media Director for the Hoffman campaign. Here’s me + Paul:
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Panel Discussion:”Daily Urbanism”at Open Cities conference
Today I participated in a panel for the Open Cities conference in Washington, DC. The topic was “Daily Urbanism”. Here’s the description from the program: A good infographic is worth a thousand words. Data visualization can help bridge the gap between government projects and citizen engagement. Panelists will discuss opportunities to use data to better…
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LEGISLATION: Olympic Oversight Ordinance
Today Alderman Manny Flores of Chicago’s First Ward introduced an ordinance that mandates greater oversight of the Chicago 2016 Bid Committee. I assisted the Alderman in the development of language calling for the release of financial data and other public documents.See some news coverage and download the entire PDF of the ordinance here.
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MSNBC.com Purchase of EveryBlock
Here’s a snip from some of the news coverage of the sale of EveryBlock that focuses on the public data work that I spearheaded: MSNBC.com Buys EveryBlock as Interest in Local Content Grows | Kara Swisher | BoomTown | AllThingsD. EveryBlock takes a slightly different approach, scouring a mass of publicly available data in a…
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WRITING: “Chicago’s First Attempt At TIF Sunshine Falls Short”on Progress Illinois
Today Progress Illinois published an article that I co-wrote with Max Brooks: Chicago’s First Attempt At TIF Sunshine Falls Short. Here’s a snip: The Projects section typically has a project name with supporting documents linked beneath. Document types include: Redevelopment Agreements These are often simply copies of the relevant pages from the City Council Journal…
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Writing: EveryBlock Statement in Support of Open Data Standards in New York City
Today, on behalf of EveryBlock, I wrote and submitted the following statement to New York City Council: EveryBlock strongly supports the introduction of a Local Law to create open data standards in New York City. EveryBlock is a neighborhood news site serving 15 cities, including New York. You can see our work at http://nyc.everyblock.com/, where we combine public records from New York…
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Chicago Sun-Times Editorial re: CityPayments:”You too can track city spending”
Here’s an editorial from today’s Sun-Times.www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1653034,CST-EDT-edit06b….July 6, 2009Ever hear about the City of Chicago spending money on something and think to yourself, that’s just goofy?Just the other day, Ald. Ed Burke griped about the city paying a contractor $915 every time it hauls a body to the morgue, while noting that other cities pay far…
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The Launch of CityPayments
Today I helped launch CityPayments. Here’s a snippet from the launch blog post: Take a look at CityPayments, a database of all vendors, contracts, and payments that have been posted by the municipal government of the City of Chicago to the Vendor, Contract, and Payment Search lookup tool maintained by the Department of Procurement Services.
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WRITING: Testimony re: City asset lease agreements disclosure ordinance
Today I testified at the Chicago City Council Committee on Finance. Here’s the text: Statement of Daniel X. O’Neil in support of the proposed City asset lease agreements disclosure ordinance. Monday, June 1, 2009. 11:30 a.m., Council Chambers My name is Dan O’Neil, and I am one of the co-founders of EveryBlock.com, a neighborhood news…