Working to deliver on one of five goals set earlier this year with the debut of the new Mayor’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Atlanta officials gathered to mark the debut of a portal aimed at tracking city funds Sept. 4.
The initiative known as Open Checkbook was announced on April 10, less than a month after the city suffered a debilitating ransomware cyberattack, and is similar to others already online in Texas, Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts. But, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at the time, it was one more way she intended to enhance service delivery and hold her city accountable to its residents.
During a press conference Tuesday, Bottoms pointed out that her administration had met the goal it set about eight months earlier — to launch the portal by the end of summer — and said she sincerely hoped “that the public will be reminded of our administration’s commitment to transparency.”
“You will now have two years’ worth of data, financial data from the city of Atlanta, totaling $2.1 billion in spending, that will be available for you to review online,” Bottoms said. “This is a significant day in the life of the city of Atlanta.” (Read more…)