A national non-profit organization that promotes open government has recognized St. Charles Parish’s website as one of 112 government sites nationwide to exceed rigorous transparency standards.
Sunshine Review recently announced winners of its second annual ‘Sunny Awards,’ which recognizes the best state and local government websites across the nation. Grading takes into account the proactive disclosure of information regarding budgets, meetings, elected and administrative officials, permits and zoning, audits, contracts, lobbying, public records and taxes, as well as ease of use and availability of information.
St. Charles Parish received an A+ rating and is the only government entity in the state of Louisiana to achieve such out of state, parish, city and school district websites.
“We are extremely proud of this honor and continue to be committed to providing up-to-date information about all aspects of parish government on a daily basis,” St. Charles Parish President V.J. St. Pierre Jr. said. “The more citizens know about where their tax dollars are being spent, the more engaged they can and will become in the political process.”
Sunshine Review called the St. Charles Parish website, along with its winning counterparts, a model for other government entities.
“Sunny Award winners deserve recognition for making information available to citizens and for setting a transparency standard that all governments can, and should, meet,” Mike Barnhart, President of Sunshine Review said. “Access to information empowers every citizen to hold government officials accountable. Official accountability is the cornerstone of self-government and liberty.”
In addition, parish government will soon roll out another outlet for government information with the introduction of InSite, an online database of Parish Council business dating back to 1999. The searchable site will include information on action taken during each Parish Council and council committee meeting, including the full text of ordinances and resolutions.
“Providing more information online not only helps citizens deal with government in a user-friendly manner; it also helps parish employees efficiently manage their resources and time,” St. Charles Parish Public Information Officer Renee Allemand Simpson said. “We want our residents to be able to log on and get exactly what they need, 24 hours, seven days a week.”
Since its inception in 2008, Sunshine Review has analyzed the governmental transparency of websites of all 50 states and 6,000 local governments. Last year, 41 websites earned grades of ‘A’ for transparency.
St. Charles Parish upgraded its web presence in January 2009 with the launch of a new design and navigation scheme created by Vision Internet, of Santa Monica, Calif., a firm that specializes in government websites. The Public Information and Information Technology Offices chiefly maintain the site, along with representatives from various parish departments and agencies.
The website may be viewed at stcharlesparish-la.gov. For more information on Sunshine Review or to review government website ratings, visit sunshinereview.org.
Suggestions for improvements or additions to the St. Charles Parish website may be submitted to publicinfo@stcharlesgov.net.
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