In the
First Amendment Foundation’s Scorecard, Jacksonville’s city website had the highest score at 80, leading Miramar at 75, and Pensacola and Deltona at 74. The average score in the survey was 50 out of a total of 100 points. Jacksonville was the only city to have a perfect score in the public records category, rating the availability of electronic public records requests, links to state law, and information on policies and procedures to request public records.
To make it easier for residents to get access to important public information, Mayor Brown today announced the launch of a new transparency web page. The new web page provides a central location for information about the city budget, public meetings, the Mayor’s Office, City Council, and city departments. It also provides links to resources from the city’s Procurement Division, Building Inspection Division, the Clerk of Courts, the Property Appraiser and the Duval County Tax Collector. Residents can access the new page at
www.coj.net/Transparency.
The new transparency website is the latest of Mayor Brown’s open government initiatives. During Sunshine Week in March 2012, Mayor Brown established the Public Accountability Office to better manage public information and build stronger avenues of access for Jacksonville residents. In August 2012, he appointed Alexis Lambert as the new Public Accountability Officer. Lambert previously served as the Florida Attorney General’s Sunshine counsel.
Earlier this month, the mayor announced the launch of
JaxScore 1.0, a public-facing dashboard to provide information on the city’s performance and progress toward the administration’s top priorities. In future versions, the city intends to provide more in-depth and interactive access to finances and performance measures that will provide more transparency and accountability into city operations. The city’s website is a collaboration between the Public Affairs Office and the Information Technologies Division.