New Orleans, Louisiana

From Sunshine Review

Budget Meetings Elected Officials Administrative Officials Permits, zoning Audits Contracts Lobbying Public records Local taxes

New Orleans is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana. It is the center of the New Orleans metropolitan area. It is coextensive with Orleans Parish meaning that the boundaries of the city and the parish are the same.

Contents 1 Evaluating the city's website 1.1 The good 1.2 The bad 2 Trouble in the Sanitation Department 3 External links 4 References

[edit] Evaluating the city's website

[edit] The good

• The 2008 city budget is posted.^[1]
• City Council meetings and agendas are available.^[2]
• City Council members are listed, along with full contact information.^[3]
• Professional service contracts are available on the city council's site.^[4]
• The mayor's administrative staff is listed^[5] along with their contact information.^[6]
• The Bureau of Treasury includes some city tax information^[7], taxes can be paid online.
• Zoning information^[8] and building permits available.^[9]

[edit] The bad

• Check register is not online.
• Ethics reports do not appear to be available, but the city did recently get the Inspector General's office up and running.
• Audits are not available.
• Information on lobbying is not available.
• How to make a public records request is not provided on the city's site.

[edit] Trouble in the Sanitation Department

City Councilwoman Stacy Head says that she has requested the list of addresses served by the sanitation department multiple times in order to review services for budget evaluation. Department head Veronica White insists that she was never asked for such information, and stormed out of a City Council meeting after trying to justify "the city's $31 million budget... as compared to Jefferson Parish's $18.5 million budget" for the same services. ^[10]

[edit] External links

• City of New Orleans website
• New Orleans City Council

[edit] References

	v • d • e State of Louisiana Baton Rouge (capital)
Transparency	Public Records Act | Transparency Checklist | Government corruption reports | Transparency Legislation | Open Records procedures | Transparency Advocates | State budget | Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations |
Divisions	State | List of Parishes | List of Cities | List of School Board Districts | Evaluation of county websites | Evaluation of city websites | Evaluation of township websites | Evaluation of school district websites |
Government	Louisiana State Constitution | Executive | House of Representatives | Senate |
Judiciary	Louisiana Supreme Court | Court Election (2008) | Circuit Court of Appeals | District Courts | Judicial Nominating Commission | Judicial news | Judicial activist organizations |
Ballot Measures	Ballot measures | Recall campaigns | School bond issues | Amending the constitution | History of direct democracy | Recall process |