Open Government and Transparency

Opening up City Government
By Sam Yoon

City government touches our lives on a daily basis, but too many decisions regarding our budget and our future are made behind closed doors.

I’m committed to open and accountable government. Government should be transparent – you pay for it, so you have the right to know what it’s doing.

Every week, the City Council holds hearings, and votes on issues important to you. City Council sessions are open to the public.

And if you can’t make it to City Hall, you can find out what the City Council voted on by inspecting our official meeting minutes here. If you have trouble reading or understanding the minutes, call my office at 617-635-4217 and we will assist you.

You can watch City Council hearings online here.

You can also find the City Council’s schedule here and a calendar of the City Council’s upcoming hearings and committee meetings here.

We need a participatory budget process – one that puts your tax dollars to work based on your priorities.

That is why I have held budget hearings in every city neighborhood and why I have always worked to ensure that the Boston City Council listen not just to your concerns – but your ideas too.

Recently, the Boston Finance Commission issues a report on cost-saving ideas for our city. This report makes recommendations where cost savings could be measured, including: reducing out-of-control overtime budgets, restructuring city departments, dealing with sick and injured payrolls, reforming the fire department, installing new parking meters that will save the city an additional $10 million a year, and more.

I was proud to have a public hearing on this issue in Dorchester’s Codman Square because we cannot afford to have this report gather dust on a shelf. We may not agree on all of the report’s recommendations, but with the city facing a $140 million budget gap, we need to air these ideas in public. And we need to solicit new ideas from you.

To read the entire Boston Finance Commission report click here.

Sam’s Record on Open Government and Transparency

Open and transparent government, and the ability of residents to meaningfully participate in decision making, is what Sam Yoon is all about. It was Sam’s idea to hold town-hall type meetings in every Boston neighborhood on the city’s budget. At these meetings, Sam showed residents exactly where their tax dollars were being spent and how the budget was put together. He sought – and received – valuable input from residents on their priorities for Boston and the budget.

The following year, Sam developed and conducted an online survey to garner resident’s priorities and ideas on the budget. Nearly 2500 people responded and Sam used these responses to fight for the concerns of his constituents.

Sam led the charge in the council to adopt Performance Based Budgeting, a practice used in most other major cities – and a tool for understanding and improving our city’s budget. Sam has also fought for public posting of agendas, minutes and reports of city boards and commissions.

Sam is an outspoken advocate on bringing a “311″system to Boston City Hall. The system allows residents easy communication with City Hall through a simple”311″ telephone number, where residents can seek information on city service and make all non-emergency inquiries. The system also allows the city to track the performance of each city department. There is no excuse that a city like Boston does not take advantage of modern technology to ensure that taxpayers’ money is spent in the most effective way. Sam also proposed the use of text messaging and email to inform residents of pending snow emergencies, street cleaning and other city services. Sam will fully implement this simple, yet effective program if elected Mayor.

Bringing government closer to the people is a core principle of Sam’s agenda and he wants to hear from you on the best ways to make your government more transparent – and more effective.