New York Times Poll

There was an interesting question on the recent New York Times poll. (The polling was conducted from 8/17 to 8/21.) The poll was focused mostly on President Bush's job performance and the war in Iraq, but near the end of the poll (question 97), the people were asked "Do you personally use a computer either at home, work, or school to connect to the Internet or an online service like AOL?" Seventy-eight percent said yes and only 22% said no.

With 78% of the population using the internet, it only makes sense to post important public records online. Why then are so few communities in Massachusetts doing so?

(The follow-up question asked how often the internet users visit blogs. Forty percent said never, 17% said rarely, 9% said occasionally, and 10% said frequently. So 36% of the internet users visit blogs with varying degrees of frequency. I wonder what the percentage is of people who read newspapers? Here are some numbers from The Pew Research Center For People and the Press.)

Mayor Menino Refuses to Release Report

Two Boston Globe columnists have written columns about Mayor Menino's refusal to release a report on the Boston Police Department and his refusal to consider setting up some form of civilian oversight of the Boston Police Department. Derek Z. Jackson's column, Menino Manages to Fan Flames of Mistrust," appears online today; Adrian Walker's column, "An Open Review," appeared in yesterday's Globe.

According to Walker, the Menino Administration is claiming that the eight-months-old report is a "draft" that falls outside of the "Freedom of Information Act." I think he, Walker, meant to say the Massachusetts Public Records Law, but you get the picture. (Unless of course, the Menino Administration thinks the Federal Freedom of Information Act applies to its public records.)

My guess is the Menino Administration is claiming the report is exempt from the Massachusetts Public Record Law because it comes under the deliberative process exemption, which exempts any "inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda or letters relating to policy positions being developed by the agency" from the definition of public records. The exemption, however, does not apply to "reasonably completed factual studies or reports on which the development of such policy positions has been or may be based."

Of course, the Menino Administration could release the report if they wanted to, even if its release was not required by the Massachusetts Public Records Law. Apparently, they feel that what the public does not know, will not hurt them. So much for democracy in the claimed "birthplace of democracy." (Or is the birthplace of democracy Philadelphia?)

Survey Of 37 Community Websites By Globe West

Globe West surveyed 37 towns in Massachusetts and "found that less than 60 percent allow residents to pay property tax or other bills online, read the minutes of Board of Selectmen meetings, or click on a link to send e-mails to specific town officials." It also found that even the best government sites in its survey remain far below the cutting edge according to standards applied by the California-based Center for Digital Government. The Globe West survey focused on services provided by the communities, rather than the availability of public records on line. However, it confirms the inadequate use of the internet by communities in Massachusetts. What does that say about how technologically savvy this state really is?

Lack of Web Utilization In State Government

Steve Bailey of the Boston Globe reports today that Attorney General Tom Reilly has done little to improve the Office of the Attorney General's website. Bailey writes, "In the year 2006 in a state that considers itself a technology leader this is beyond a bad joke. Transparency is not an option but a requirement today, and in 7 1/2 years in office Reilly has not found a way to move the basic financial reports of our important brand-name institutions-- to say nothing of the thousands of no-name charities-- from an archaic internal computer system to the Web where anyone can access them any time."
I could not have said it any better myself.

Mr. Bailey states that even the legislature is better at providing information, which really is not saying much. The legislature's website is pretty archaic too. All the websites for the state government should be as good as they can be, not only for good government reasons, but because it says something to the outside world about the innovative nature of this state. Currently, the impression being created by the state's websites is not inspiring.

For comparison, check out how other states are doing it. Here are some websites for Attorney General's in the other New England states: Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, and Vermont.