Joining me in my commitment to making County government more transparent and accountable to the public, my colleagues in the Suffolk County Legislature recently approved a bill I sponsored that mandates frequent updates of the County’s new “Open Access” website.
The comprehensive website is modeled after the New York State Attorney General’s innovative “Project Sunlight” program, a highly touted web-based tool that has been praised by good government watchdog organizations throughout the State, including the Suffolk chapter of the League of Women Voters. The site allows Suffolk residents easy access to information about elected officials, County government and its various departments and divisions.
The site, which is accessible at http://openaccess.suffolkcountyny.gov/, includes information about County services, contracts, legislation, budgets, campaign finances, lobbyists and other areas of interest to Suffolk residents. For example, the public has access to campaign contributions with the ability to cross-reference donors with any legislation that may have affected them. The site also attaches lawmakers’ names to their respective spending items.
