[1st-mile-nm] Santa Fe Open Data Article

[Richard Lowenberg]

The Santa Fe Open Data site will take time to develop, as user feedback 
and data applications, as well as stories such as this help to create 
more open, accurate and community-serving iterations.
RL

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http://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/Santa-Fe-NM-Serves-Example-Cities-Need-More-than-Just-Open-Data.html

Santa Fe, N.M., Serves as an Example that Cities Need More than Just 
Open Data Amid the push to make as much data public available as 
possible, cities need to make sure people know what the numbers actually 
mean.

BY DANIEL J. CHACÓN, THE SANTA FE NEW MEXICAN / OCTOBER 3, 2016

A new website designed to revolutionize how the public accesses and 
understands the city of Santa Fe’s finances could leave people 
scratching their heads and wondering whether spending is way up, despite 
an insistence by city officeholders that money is tight.

The OpenGov website, launched in August by Mayor Javier Gonzales, 
creates the impression that spending in the current fiscal year has 
increased by about $63 million over last year.

This year’s budget is actually millions of dollars lower, but the 
transparency website leaves taxpayers in the dark.

The website, http://www.santafenm.gov/opengov , offers no explanation of 
the numbers it lists. It’s a collection of figures and charts that 
require the public to navigate through other financial documents, 
including audits and monthly reports, or to contact the city directly to 
get the full story, a process that only adds to the bureaucracy at City 
Hall.

(snip)


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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute     505-603-5200
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
rl at 1st-mile.org     www.1st-mile.org
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