Oregon city and county manager's emails online · 24 June 08
I want to point to a unique project by the former mayor of Lafayette, Oregon, Darrell Flood. Flood was elected mayor in 2006 and resigned after a dispute about some unsavory political practices. He and his wife later started a web site dedicated to keeping government in Lafayette – and beyond – open. As part of a recent project, they uploaded five years of correspondence between Oregon city and county managers from a public listserv to his web site.
Flood summarizes his own findings this way: “There are items that we found particularly insulting. Like when they refer to their citizens in demeaning ways. And discuss how they can make it more difficult for citizens to get public information.”
Flood’s upload of the listserv contains a spreadsheet of members sorted by city and county contact. It’s useful for anyone who wants a behind-the-scenes look at how at how their government reps weigh in on various topics. I understand the project has caused a bit of a stir but Flood maintains the listserv is public and should see daylight.
I learned about the project through Ellen Miller’s post on the Sunlight Foundation blog. She prints a letter from Flood, detailing the project’s origins and aim.
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