Government Technology - January 2009 - (Page 48)

e-gov j j Synopsis: California S TAT E | L O C A L | F E D E R A L offers a GIS-based Web tool allowing citizens to track where state bond money goes after Election Day. Money B Y A N D Y O P S A H L | F E AT U R E S E D I T O R Agencies: California Department of Finance, California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Resources Agency. Technologies: GIS, Bond Accountability Database, Web sites. Contact: H.D. Palmer, deputy director of External Affairs, California Department of Finance 916/323-0648. Trail California’s GIS-based Web tool lets citizens follow state bond money after Election Day. the information on the Web site,” said John Ellison, agency information officer of the California Resources Agency. Agencies divide those project descriptions into three sections. The “front end” identifies the agency running the project, and its plan to execute the project, including metrics and the amount of money being spent. The “middle” section is where citizens should check routinely because it offers status reports on projects — where the money has gone and what’s on time or late. The “back-end” section reports audit results on how efficiently projects were completed and whether inappropriate spending occurred. T hink of all the bonds for transportation, parks, universities and other government projects the states pass each election year. They always involve “drop in the bucket” tax increases and promise dazzling community enhancements. Do citizens really give these bonds another thought after voting for them? Most people lack time to navigate government bureaucracies. So California implemented its Bond Accountability Database in 2007, a GISbased Web tool for citizens to track where the money goes from passed bonds and the status of the resulting projects. “You can see whether the project is on time, on budget and within scope,” said Bryan Cash, deputy assistant secretary for Bonds and Grants of the California Resources Agency. The database — www.bondaccount ability.ca.gov — came by an executive order from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “It’s our responsibility to hold up our end of the bargain by being able to demonstrate to the people that we are spending the money they entrusted us to spend wisely,” said H.D. Palmer, deputy director of External Affairs for the California Department of Finance (DoF). users search for a bond, a hyperlink takes them to the bond accountability Web page of the agency spending that bond money. “Trying to design a system where one agency housed all of the data and all of the other departments fed into it, was something that would cost more than we could have done with our existing resources and short time frame,” said Theresa Gunn, principal program budget analyst of the DoF. Readable Descriptions Many know the frustration of using Web tools supposedly designed to keep governments transparent, but instead deliver information in dense, jargon-filled language. The DoF wanted to avoid that, by instructing all participating agencies to submit project status descriptions with easily readable text. “We don’t want people to have to be experts in the different program areas to understand Creative Saving The Resources Agency saved money and time by pairing its existing GIS team with a Microsoft SQL database operated by the state’s Department of Parks and Recreation, a.k.a. “California State Parks.” All people reporting on bond projects in both agencies submit their information to the California State Parks database. The GIS team in the Resources Agency then accesses the database Behind the Scene California’s bond accountability Web tool is actually several Web sites linked together, sharing the graphic motif of the governor’s site. The DoF hosts the first few pages. Once JAN_09 38 http://www.bondaccountability.ca.gov http://www.bondaccountability.ca.gov http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - January 2009

Government Technology - January 2009 Contents Point of View On the Scene Big Picture Four Questions for... Stemming the Retirement Tide Getting the Picture Fact of Matter Money Trail Rays the Roof Trick or Tweet? The Modern Way to Vote Products signal:noise

Government Technology - January 2009

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