Evaluation of Washington city websites

Below is a chart evaluating the transparency efforts of Washington city websites.

Reading the chart

In the chart below:

	means that information is included on the government website
	means that the information was not provided on the government website
P	means that information was partially provided

Check the Sunshine Review page about each City for more detailed information about what information is available on the City website, along with recommendations SR users have made for positive changes.

• See sample transparency legislation at the Sunshine Standard

Conclusions chart

In July 2012, Sunshine Review evaluated the five largest cities in Washington, plus the state capital: Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, Bellevue, and Olympia. These cities averaged a B website transparency grade. The details of this analysis are in the chart below.

	Budget?	Meetings?	Elected officials?	Admin. Officials?	Permits/ Zoning?	Audits?	Contracts?	Lobbying?	Public records?	Taxes?
Y	6	6	6	6	6	6	2	0	6	2
P	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	1
N	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	3

Comparison chart

City	Grades	Budget	Meetings	Elected Officials	Admin. Officials	Permits/ Zoning	Audits	Contracts	Lobbying	Public records	Taxes
Bellevue, Washington	B	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	P	N	Y	Y
Olympia, Washington	B	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N
Seattle, Washington	A-	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	P	Y	Y
Spokane, Washington	B-	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	P	N	Y	P
Tacoma, Washington	B-	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	P	N	Y	N
Vancouver, Washington	B	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	P	N	Y	P

Comparison chart

Please check each district to see when it was last rated, if there is no time stamp then check the "History" tab to see when it was last edited.

City	Grades	Budget	Meetings	Elected Officials	Admin. Officials	Permits/ Zoning	Audits	Contracts	Lobbying	Public records	Taxes
Bellevue, Washington	B	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	P	N	Y	Y
Olympia, Washington	B	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N
Seattle, Washington	A-	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	P	Y	Y
Spokane, Washington	B-	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	P	N	Y	P
Tacoma, Washington	B-	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	P	N	Y	N
Vancouver, Washington	B	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	P	N	Y	P

Correcting errors

If you discover an error in this chart or on one of the articles about a Washington city, you can correct it immediately or report the error.

	v • d • e State of Washington Olympia (capital)
Transparency	Public Records Act | Transparency Checklist | Government corruption reports | Transparency Legislation | Open Records procedures | Transparency Advocates | Transparency blogs | State budget | Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations |
Divisions	State | List of Counties | List of Cities | List of Towns | List of School Districts | Evaluation of county websites | Evaluation of city websites | Evaluation of township websites | Evaluation of school district websites |
Government	Washington State Constitution | Executive | House of Representatives | Senate |
Judiciary	Washington Supreme Court | Superior Court | Court of Appeals | District Court | Municipal Court | Judicial nomination process | Judicial news | Judicial activist organizations |
Ballot Measures	Ballot measures | Ballot measures listed by year | List of local ballot measures | Procedures for qualifying an initiative | Laws governing the initiative process | Signature requirements | Recall law | Ballow access law litigation | History of direct democracy | Campaign finance requirements |