Syosset and surrounding area pledge to increase transparency.
At the beginning of May, the Town of Oyster Bay, which includes Syosset and a number of other villages, announced that it would be partnering with Reclaim NY, a local nonprofit, to improve online transparency.
During a press conference, Reclaim NY stated that the Town earned a transparency score close to 80%. Before the new Town Supervisor, Joseph Saladino, took office in February, the town's score was a quarter of its current rating.
Saladino said that working with Reclaim NY provided an ideal opportunity to show that the Town of Oyster Bay is serious about becoming the most ethically operating town in New York state. He stated:
Organizations that work with town and municipal governments can use printing companies to share the information they uncover in their research. The Town of Oyster Bay is just the first town to work with Reclaim NY.
The organization plans on analyzing every town and municipality in the state. Reclaim NY will evaluate areas in categories including fiscal transparency, contracts, municipal transparency, and access to info. So far, Reclaim NY has filed more than 700 Freedom of Information requests to discover expenditure information in villages, towns, cities, and counties across New York.
In response to the input provided by Reclaim, the Town of Oyster Bay has made a number of changes. For example, the website now has detailed instructions on how to submit proposal requests and has put up a viewable list of currently open requests.
During a press conference, Reclaim NY stated that the Town earned a transparency score close to 80%. Before the new Town Supervisor, Joseph Saladino, took office in February, the town's score was a quarter of its current rating.
Saladino said that working with Reclaim NY provided an ideal opportunity to show that the Town of Oyster Bay is serious about becoming the most ethically operating town in New York state. He stated:
“Upon hearing about the Transparency Project, I invited Reclaim NY in and radically changed the way the Town operates.”
Organizations that work with town and municipal governments can use printing companies to share the information they uncover in their research. The Town of Oyster Bay is just the first town to work with Reclaim NY.
The organization plans on analyzing every town and municipality in the state. Reclaim NY will evaluate areas in categories including fiscal transparency, contracts, municipal transparency, and access to info. So far, Reclaim NY has filed more than 700 Freedom of Information requests to discover expenditure information in villages, towns, cities, and counties across New York.
In response to the input provided by Reclaim, the Town of Oyster Bay has made a number of changes. For example, the website now has detailed instructions on how to submit proposal requests and has put up a viewable list of currently open requests.