Citizens gain as websites grow
In Salem, residents do not have to set foot inside City Hall to find out what's going on. All they have to do is log on to salem.com and they can view the City Council's agenda and minutes, check out ordinances and codes, or peek at the budget.
The city is part of a growing number of Massachusetts communities that, in the view of a government watchdog group, are doing the right thing when it comes to offering online access to public documents.
At a State House ceremony March 15, Common Cause Massachusetts honored 73 cities and towns with its 2007 E-Government award in recognition of having posted key municipal records on their websites.
In addition to Salem, local communities earning the salute were Chelsea, Gloucester, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Melrose, Peabody, Saugus, Swampscott, and Winthrop.
Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash was pleased his community was recognized for its comprehensive site.
"It's an important aspect of what we try to do in Chelsea, which is to project an open and transparent municipal process," he said.
Common Cause Massachusetts is advocating for the electronic posting of municipal documents as part of a project it initiated last year to promote open and accountable government.
"The Internet provides a new opportunity to expand the frontiers of open government because the information is so easily accessed by citizens," said Pamela Wilmot, the group's executive director.
Wilmot noted that all the documents her group seeks to have posted are "readily available when someone goes to town hall and asks for them. But that level of commitment to make the trip or pick up the phone and make a call... is too much for many people, and we believe the more accessible it is, the more likely people will be to inform themselves and therefore to go the extra mile to become involved."
When Common Cause first surveyed municipal websites last year, only 24 included all of the key documents it identified, which are the community's governing body agenda and minutes; its current year's budget information; its bylaws, codes, or ordinances; and in the case of a town, its town meeting warrant and results.
"Our goal was to triple the number of communities that posted this information in a year and we met our goal exactly," Wilmot said. "It was a little easier than we expected it would be, because I think there's a growing understanding that this is important, and that it's effective, and that it's also not costly."
Ash said maintaining a comprehensive website has become a necessity, even for busy municipal officials.
"The public expects to be able to access information from City Hall at all hours of the day, and we need to find the time and find the resources to make it available," he said.
"Not everybody can come to the meetings they would like to attend," said Sue Thorne, chairwoman of the Manchester-by-the-Sea Board of Selectmen. "This way they get the minutes, they can get the agenda to see what issues are coming up at a given meeting. I think it just makes information about the town more accessible at the convenience of the consumer."
Melrose Mayor Robert J. Dolan sees benefits to municipalities in providing the public with online information.
"When times are very difficult, and you have to make tough decisions, you want to make sure you are as transparent as possible, so people can follow along in terms of meeting minutes and budgets and capital projects," he said.
Dolan said by making the website a vehicle for residents to find information and to conduct their city business, calls can be reduced to city hall offices, many of which have lost staff over the years because of budget cuts.
Marc R. Paster, chairman of the Swampscott Board of Selectmen, said providing a more informative website has been a goal of officials in the town as they move to upgrade technology.
"I feel it's important that people are informed as much as possible with as many different resources as possible," Paster said. "The more people are educated and informed about what's going on, the better they can contribute to what's happening in town."
The Common Cause project also identifies communities that come close to meeting its criteria. Haverhill, Ipswich, Malden, Newburyport, and Topsfield are listed as posting all but one of the applicable documents.
Eighteen other communities have posted at least one of the applicable documents, but are lacking more than one: Amesbury, Beverly, Boxford, Danvers, Essex, Everett, Georgetown, Groveland, Hamilton, Marblehead, Merrimac, Nahant, Newbury, Newburyport, Rockport, Salisbury, Wenham, and West Newbury. The complete list, with links to municipal websites, is available at maopengov.org.
Five communities are listed as posting none of the relevant documents: Lynn, Lynnfield, Middleton, Rowley, and Wakefield.
"I'm disappointed, but not surprised," said Robert MacKendrick, chairman of the Lynnfield Board of Selectmen.
He noted the need to improve the town's website "is something that has been a concern of ours. Part of our problem is we have not been able to hire the people we would like to stay on top of that. I'm hopeful this is going to change shortly."
Lynn Mayor Edward J. "Chip" Clancy Jr. said: "I'm much more interested in how we address the cost of health care and balancing the budget than I am about Common Cause's opinion about the website."
NorthTalk
Do you use your city or town's website to keep up with local affairs or find information? Log on to boston.com/northtalk. Or give us your opinion by writing to us at globenorth@globe.com or at Globe North, Suite 200, 1 8Corporate Place, 55 Ferncroft Road, Danvers, MA, 01923.
