GLYNN: Citizens get a new pipeline to state government

Opinion

Related Photos

Don Glynn --

Discussion

March 13, 2013

GLYNN: Citizens get a new pipeline to state government

By Don Glynn Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Wed Mar 13, 2013, 05:08 PM EDT

Niagara Gazette — All of us suddenly have more access to state government.

That was the message as Sunshine Week started Monday with Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiling Open.ny.gov., a website designed to make government the most transparent in Empire State history. The special observance is a national initiative created by the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 2005 to shine a spotlight on the importance of open government and the danger that secrecy poses to a democracy. Obviously we can't rush to judgment — only time will tell—but the early signs for Open.ny.gov point to a more user-friendly way to find vital information about state government and its vast operations.

Cuomo said: "This new website will dramatically increase public access to one of our most valuable assets — data. Open.ny.gov will spark innovation, improve efficiency, promote accountability and bring the people back into government." If only half of that comes to fruition, it will represent a major break-through for taxpayers, especially the frustrated citizen advocacy groups.

Robert Freeman, executive director of the Committee on Open Government who has helped countless reporters negotiate the stiff currents in their endless pursuits in ferreting out facts from uncooperative public officials and other sources, is impressed with the array of information the state is willing to release. "Perhaps more significant, information will be there for the taking, and it can be analyzed, extracted, merged to be useful to citizens in their daily lives and to our business and academic communities."

Freeman cited an example: "The death rate might be higher at one hospital than at the other down the road. And the public will be able to find that out by searching this website."

Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union of New York City, said the new website should "enable New Yorkers to make better informed decisions and make government more open and accountable.”

A spokesman at the governor's office said Wednesday that the counties of Essex, Oneida, Onondaga and Suffolk as well as the City of Albany had already started sharing their data on the website. It could not be immediately determined if and when Niagara County would begin posting its data online. The public information office for the county did not return calls asking for comment.

•••

LOSING POINTS: Gov. Andrew Cuomo's favorabiity rating is down for the third consecutive month, according to the Siena College poll. It's now 64 percent, compared with 72 percent in December.

Pollster Steven Greemberg says, "With a better than two-to-one favorability rating that would be the envy of most elected officials or politicians. Greenberg noted that while the gun law was popular statewide, 57 percent of upstate voters approved it and 39 percent supported it.

•••

PAIN AT THE PUMP: If you're wondering why our gas prices are so high compared with other places, check out the amount of state tax you pay per gallon: New York, 69.9 cents; Connecticut, 64.4 cents; Michigan, 61.3 cents; Florida, 53.4; Pennsylvania, 53.7 cents; Ohio, 46.4 cents; Massachusetts, 41.9 cents; New Hampshire, 38; and New Jersey, 32.9 cents. In New York, that's $13.98 in state tax on a 20-gallon fill up.

•••

GO FIGURE: Overheard in the 'Y' Coffee Shop, Main Street: "The city's talking about starting a registry of vacant buildings in Niagara Falls. Wouldn't it be much simpler just to publish a list of the buildings that are open?" — a customer complaining about the North Main Street scene.

Contact reporter Don Glynn at 282-2311, ext. 2246.

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Opinion

HAMILTON: Mona - that little old woman who could Wrotniak's Highland restaurant was consumed in flames not long ago. Witnesses say that it was young children. Now all that remain is a charred hulk of brick and mortar that is fit for nothing more than the wrecker's ball. It not only reflects too many of the once vibrant buildings that lined the streets of a once-vibrant city that is now trading businesses and owner-occupied homes for subsidized government housing, wherein now lies the dreams of prosperity that are just as dark and bleak as the remains of Wrotniak's.
May 24, 2013 1 Photo
GUESt VIEW: Background on the Boston Marathon tragedy We have had massive coverage of and innumerable opinions proffered on the recent, riveting Boston Marathon tragedy; but it seems to me that the long historical view can provide added illumination concerning this horrendous drama of April 2013.
May 24, 2013 1 Photo
GLYNN: Poll shows public upset with Albany scandals Area state lawmakers including a few Republicans who like to bask in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's reflected glory should take a closer look at the latest Siena College Poll results. Those coattails may not help in the next election, unless there's a dramatic reversal in the way state government operates. While Cuomo is hardly to blame for all the embarrassing mess on Capitol Hill, he still is the state Chief Executive of the system becoming more dysfunctional every day, according to the Siena findings. (In the words of a famous American, shouldn't the buck stop at the governor's desk?)
May 23, 2013 1 Photo
EDITORIAL: Give our visitors something to write home about Company is coming and we're not ready. But we can take comfort in the fact that hardly anyone is ever ready.
May 23, 2013
BRADBERRY: Peaceful place to learn, to think More famous as the birthplace of "I Love Lucy's" Lucille Ball, and NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, Jamestown, New York is a well preserved vestige of rural Americana.
May 22, 2013 1 Photo
DELUCA: Poetry, in motion
Bob Baxter sent me his new book of poems the other day and I promised to read them. But, when I tried to open the book, I couldn't. I've always been prejudiced against poetry.

He knew of my dislike, but as a retired creative writing professor, had hoped the poems from “Niagara Lost and Found” might soften me toward one of his favorite art forms.

Sadly, my disdain was set in place long ago, in reaction to teachers who could not help me understand.

May 22, 2013 1 Photo
CONFER: When will the college bubble burst? The bursting of the housing bubble was the unquestioned cause of the Great Recession. After years of unprecedented growth in the housing market that saw home ownership and home values rise dramatically, the collective bad decisions of homebuyers, banks, and government finally caught up to the economy at large.
May 20, 2013 1 Photo
CITY DESK: Buffalo bears, oh my! It's bad enough those "secretive" Buffalo interests are always trying to co-op our city and our good name with all their grant money and what not.
May 20, 2013 1 Photo
HIGGS: Still in high school Local Architect Clinton Brown recently described the style of the 168,000-square-foot building housing the Niagara Falls High School at the corner of Portage Road and Pine Avenue as "a three-story structure with concrete and steel structure, cut stone and masonry façade and classical inspired details. These include the hierarchical and symmetrical main and secondary facades, a central porch with six two-story engaged columns and the balustrade main staircase to the front doors and upper porch. The original four-over-four hung windows have been replaced with shorter aluminum sliding windows with
May 20, 2013 1 Photo
EDITORIAL: Get out and vote in the school elections on Tuesday We all have some important decisions to make Tuesday. Unfortunately, if recent history is any indication, very few will make the effort.
May 20, 2013
More Opinion Headlines

Opinion

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

GLYNN: Citizens get a new pipeline to state government

Site Map

Contact Us