The Sunlight Foundation is an organization and a campaign to use technology to bring more transparency to government. Last week the Sunlight Foundation kicked off their Public Equals Online campaign with a panel discussion at the Google Headquarters in Washington DC.

Panelists included:

• Jake Brewer, engagement director of the Sunlight Foundation
• Mark Tapscott, editorial page editor of the Washington Examiner
• Jose Antonio Vargas, Technology & Innovations Editor at the Huffington Post
• Ginny Hunt, Head of Google’s Public Sector Lab
• Ryan Hopkins, Public Square Project
• And a representative from the federal government

The Public Square Project is based in Pittsburgh.  From the website:

The Public Square Project seeks to empower citizens to make positive change in local government by building an online hub for information about government and public policy in the Pittsburgh region.

Be a Fan of the Public Square Project on Facebook here.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Let the Sunshine in (googleblog.blogspot.com)
• Jake Brewer: Bringing Local Government into the 21st Century (huffingtonpost.com)
• Sunlight Foundation wants more government docs online (computerworld.com)

By THE DAILY PROGRESS
Published: February 28, 2009

Now, some city officials may want their names associated with playgrounds, or schools, or parks, or museums.
Luke Ravenstahl wants his name linked with garbage.

The mayor of Pittsburgh is spending $250,000 to buy 250 trash cans – each and every one featuring his name.
Ah … did we mention that it’s also election season?

That’s right. Mr. Ravenstahl is up for re-election this spring.
His spokesperson says there’s nothing wrong with spending city money to spread the mayor’s name around. He wants people to know his administration is responsive to their needs.
Besides, trash politics is apparently a tradition in Pittsburgh. Three previous mayors have had their names placed on garbage cans.

Gives the phrase “dirty campaigns” a whole different meaning, doesn’t it?

Image by wallyg via Flickr

About Manifest Hope:

Art plays a pivotal role in creating cultural momentum. The MANIFESTHOPE: DC Gallery celebrates that role and shines a spotlight on artists who use their voices to amplify and motivate the grassroots movement that carried President-Elect Barack Obama to victory.

The Manifest Hope exhibit was first opened in Denver and includes works by Shepard Fairey. Click here to see more pictures from the exhibit.

Some related blog posts:

• Shepard Fairey Designs Marriage Equality Poster
• Artists for Obama: Is this stuff any good?
• Top Ten Barack Obama Inspired T-Shirts (there’s more than ten)
• Barack Obama Wins AdAge Marketer of the Year

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

So what to do? Members of Congress, here’s what I propose:

1. Transporting Americans is and should be one of the most important functions our government must address. And because we are facing a massive economic, energy and environmental crisis, the new president and Congress must do what Franklin Roosevelt did when he was faced with a crisis (and ordered the auto industry to stop building cars and instead build tanks and planes): The Big 3 are, from this point forward, to build only cars that are not primarily dependent on oil and, more importantly to build trains, buses, subways and light rail (a corresponding public works project across the country will build the rail lines and tracks). This will not only save jobs, but create millions of new ones.

2. You could buy ALL the common shares of stock in General Motors for less than $3 billion. Why should we give GM $18 billion or $25 billion or anything? Take the money and buy the company! (You’re going to demand collateral anyway if you give them the “loan,” and because we know they will default on that loan, you’re going to own the company in the end as it is. So why wait? Just buy them out now.)

3. None of us want government officials running a car company, but there are some very smart transportation geniuses who could be hired to do this. We need a Marshall Plan to switch us off oil-dependent vehicles and get us into the 21st century.

On Tuesday, March 11, President Clinton attends a “Solutions for America” event in Washington, meets with voters at a Canonsburg senior center, and attends another “Solutions for America” event in Center Township later in the day.

Both “Solutions for America” events are free and open to the public.

President Clinton will be in Erie, PA on Wednesday, March 12. Additional details forthcoming. 

• Tuesday, March 11
  • 12:30 p.m. EST – President Clinton Attends “Solutions for America” Event
    • Washington and Jefferson College, Henry Gymnasium
    • 60 South Lincoln Street (on the corner of Chestnut), Washington, PA
  • 2:00 p.m. EST
    • President Clinton Meets with Voters
    • Canonsburg Area Senior Center
    • 30 East Pike Street, Canonsburg, PA
  • 4:45 p.m. EST
    • President Clinton Attends “Solutions for America” Event
    • Center High School
    • 160 Baker Road, Center Township, PA

Pittsburgh is a cautionary tale for many American cities. It can either go the way of Detroit or become a comeback city like Philadelphia and Baltimore. Its future, as defined by either Mr. Ravenstahl or Mr. DeSantis, could provide a roadmap for how economically depressed cities can recover.

This article was also published in the Tribune review so local readers may not be aware that this converation about Pittsburgh is occurring on the national level.

There is also a letter to the editor of the New York Sun, that points out Ravenstahl’s “pattern of deception.”

I do not fault the mayor so much for doing these things, but for the pattern of deception in which he has engaged when questions have been raised about his whereabouts.

In the New York incident, press questions about whether the mayor took such a trip were initially met with stonewalling.

He responded to a reporter’s question by stating that he had not taken this trip, only owning up to it after it became evident that the press had the goods. He also stated that he did not recall where he had dined or where he had spent the night.

In an instance in which the mayor was golfing during an important meeting, reporters were told that the mayor was engaging in “important city business.”

Later, to the mayor’s embarrassment, this “important city business” was disclosed to be a golf outing.

The mayor has demonstrated a pattern of deception when he is cornered. This is what I find most troubling about him.

Pittsburgh’s many problems have been brought about by corrupt one-party rule, which has extended from the 1930s through the present.

This is not they type of publicity Pittsburgh needs.  The mayor can do what he wants on his own time.  But his “pattern of deception” is creating a very bad public picture for the city of Pittsburgh.

H.R. 811:

• Paper Ballots — ALL voting machines must produce a paper ballot
• Audits — ALL voting machines must be audit-able
• No Secret Source Code — ALL voting machine vendors MUST make the machines’ software available for inspection
• Ban on Wireless Devices — Prohibits wireless technology in voting
  machines

Why Do I Care:
In 2004, thousands of votes were literally lost because voting machines did not have paper ballots
What You Can Do:
Call your congressperson. in Pittsburgh, Call Mike Doyle 202-225-2135 and tell him to Vote YES on H.R. 811.

Want More Info:
Then, after you call, sign up for Democracy Campaign updates and alerts on your cell phone. The Democracy Campaign is going mobile, and you can join the campaign by signing up to receive text message alerts and updates on your cell phone. We’ll let you know when the Holt bill is coming to the floor for a vote, and we’ll let you know when your activism will have the most impact on other important bills and initiatives to help protect voting rights and the integrity of elections. (And we’ll text you only when it’s urgent.)

https://www. kintera.org/ site/apps/ ka/ct/contactcus tom.asp?c= feIJKQMEF& b=2905607

Jason Alexander is getting mad requests for autographs; I’m going to ask him to sign one “to Cramer”, and once I whipped open my little laptop, I’ve had three rich, DC, sitting-right-up-next-to-the-front_stage-with-Jason types say to me – both of ‘em, and I quote, “TELL me you’re blogging right now! You are, right???”

So I am here blogging from the Gala Awards Event

Jacon Alexander + DC Leftie Elite (I think George Soros is sitting right in front of me, dunnno, hard to tell, but he’s with the Democracy Alliance consultant dude). I recognized George Kostanza from across the room from behind because of the male pattern baldness.

Something here screams The Progressive Movement.