For those of you who don’t know how the politics of Chicago work, the City is run by the Mayor, but is also subject to the directives of the county, Cook County in this case. It gets far more convoluted with the addition of City Aldermen and the County Board, but we don’t need to get bogged down in all of that mess, and I promise you, it’s a mess. The year 2011 sees two political dynasties end and two new big players ramp up their agendas. The nationally infamous Mayor Richard M. Daley voluntarily returns to the private sector this year and leaves 22 years of scandals (Meigs Field) and city improvements (green building initiatives) in his wake; locally infamous Cook County President Todd Stroger was soundly trounced in the 2010 elections and thus ends the nepotism his administration (and his father’s) had been so heavily criticized for.
Starting with Cook County as a whole, President Preckwinkle has started the “Open County Initiative” which according to their website pledges “to provide the residents of the county with a more transparent and accountable government. This site provides easy access to areas of information, records and data transparency throughout the county.” It goes on to link various areas of interest including details on purchases made by the County including a check register that provides a record of payments to County suppliers and vendors. Other information includes Board meeting dates and minutes, proposals and even information on submitting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. I like this touch in particular — what better way to show you have nothing to hide than to put the means to seek wrongdoing right there for everyone to find? It creates a nice ethos for the site, however unsubtle that effort might be. 
Moving on to the City itself, Emanuel’s transition team put up a website to act as a hub for the incoming administration. Incoming became incumbent on May 16th, but it doesn’t look like site has changed, though the links are still open, and unfortunately the Office of the Mayor website at www.cityofchicago.org isn’t nearly as fun to look at. It doesn’t offer the same opportunities as the transition website either; it looks just like you’d expect the City-sponsored website to appear. The City site does have a link to the transition site, as well as to the FOIA request log for the Mayor’s office. It certainly doesn’t have the approachability of the transition website though, which is a bit of a shame. The Chicago 2011 site really wants you to get involved! You could sign up for news updates, an RSS feed, follow on Twitter, like them on Facebook, submit your ideas for a better Chicago or apply for a job with the administration. 
purpose. One of the most notable items to come out of the transition website and its call to the citizens is the Transition Report. This document takes into consideration each idea submitted to the then Mayor-elect for the betterment of Chicago — from concerns about the budget to complaints that recycling is a disgrace to suggestions on how to keep our beaches clean — and worked them into a 72 page report detailing the next steps for the administration. Having participated in the discussion boards and having sent in my own suggestions, I saw that there were several themes the people were concerned about and most of those made it in — the budget, ethics, youth violence, more police, and comprehensive response to the foreclosure crisis — while the specifics, such as one I stumbled across demanding an ordinance to require vet documentation and obedience training certificates for those entering dog parks, didn’t quite make it. Maybe next time. All in all, I think I’m more impressed with the County’s efforts in using technology to be more transparent and accessible. The check register is a huge step alone, but kudos to both teams for making the effort. Here’s to keeping it going.
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