75¿ ftln4\{ $o,,sp Agenda ltem No. 10d. Staff Report Date: May 12,20t6 To Mayor Katie Hoertkorn and Council Members From Joe Chinn, Town Manager Subject: Response to Marin County Civil Grand Jury Report "2O'J,5-I6 Web Transparency Report Card - Bringing Marin County's Local Governments to Light" Recommendation Town Council authorize the Mayor to sign the attached letter response to the Marin County Civil Grand Jury Report entitled "20t5-I6 Web Transparency Report Card - Bringing Marin County's Local Governments to Light", Background and discussion On March I0,201.6, the Marin County Civil Grand Jury issued a report entitled 2015-16 Web Transporency Report Card - Bringing Marin County's Locol Governments to Light, which presents the results of an audit taken by the Marin County Civil Grand Jury on local government agencies' websites to evaluate the quality of online information presented. The Town is required to respond to the Grand Jury report's recommendations. Analysis of the recommendations and the Town Council response to the report is found in the draft letter attached. Fiscal, resource and timeline impacts There is no fiscal impact associated with this response to the Grand Jury Alternative actions Council could choose to modify the draft letter response to the Grand Jury Environmental review (if applicable) Not applicable. Attachments o Response Draft Letter to Marin County Civil Grand Jury r Response Form o Grand Jury Report of March L0,201-6,2015-t6 Web Transparency Report Card - Bringing Marin County's Local Governments to Light May L3, 2016 The Honorable Judge Kelly V. Simmons Marin County Superior Court P.O. Box 4988 San Rafael, CA 94913-4988 Dear Judge Simmons: The Ross Town Council has received the Grand Jury Report - "2015-16 Web Transparency Report Card - Bringing Marin County's Locøl Governments to Ligh(' dated March t0,20t6. The Grand Jury has requested a response to Recommendations Rl-, R2 and R3. The Town Council response follows. RECOMMENDATION Rl: The agency should improve its web transparency score to "B-" (or better), by updating its website and submitting the appropriate self-audit form. The form may be obtained by ema i I i ng gran dju ry-aud it@ ma rincou nty.org. Response: Ross has improved its information on the website and continues to update and add new content as needed. Some of items cited in the Grand Jury Report Card for Ross do not exist, such as a "Financial Reserves Policy" and "Contracts". The Town plans to establish a Financial Reserves Policy in the near future which will be added to the website. For Contracts, there are currently no requests for proposals or bidding opportunities for Ross to post on the website; when we do have bidding opportunities, they are posted on the website along with submittal instructions. Another item cited in the Grand Jury Report Card is "Administrative Officials", and this item is particularly puzzling to us, as each department on the website clearly states the administrative officials responsible and their contact information. We are unclear what additional information is needed. We have added a Town of Ross organizational chart to the Human Resources page on the website which lists all the departments, their officials, and their employees. R2: The agency should file and keep updated its Statement of Facts with the California Secretary of State and the Marin County Clerk as required by California Code $53051. Response: California Government Code 553050 defines "public agency" as follows: 53050. The term "public agency," as used in this article, means a district, public authority, public agency, and any other political subdivision or The Honorable Judge Kelly V. Simmons May L3, 20L6 Page 2 public corporation in the state, but does not include the state or a county, city and county, or city. Cities are not required to file a Statement of Facts, therefore Ross will not be implementing the recommendation because it is not warranted. R3: The agency should update its website to include information of the annual compensation of its elected officials, officers and employees; and this information should also be submitted to the Controller, as required by Sections t2463 and 53909 of the California Government Code. Response: The compensation of the Town's officers and employees has been available on the Town's website Human Resources page at: http://www.townofross.orglsites/default/files/fileattachments/human resources/paee/110 /salarv schedule 4.20.3.6.pdf. and is updated regularly as changes occur. The Town fully complies with sending compensation information annually to the State Controller's office as required by the Government Code, and a link to this information is also posted on the Human Resources page of the website. The Town's elected officials do not receive any compensation to report. Respectfully, Kathleen Hoertkorn Mayor Enclosure cc: Victoria Harrison, Foreperson Pro Tem RESPONSE TO GRAND JURY REPORT FORM Report Title: 2015-16 Web Transparency Report Card - Bringing Marin County's Local Governments to Light Report Date: March 10, 2016 Public Release: March 17,2016 Response by: Town ofRoss FINDINGS . I (we) agree with the findings numbered: . I (we)disagreewhollyorpartiallywiththefindings numbered (Attach a statement specifying any portions of the findings that are disputed; include an explanation of the reasons therefor.) RECOMMENDAT¡ ONS a Recommendations numbered RI R3 have been implemented (Attach a summary describing the implemented actions.) *See response letter for details. Recommendations numbered R1 have not yet been implemented, but will be implemented in the future. *See (Attach a timeframe for the implementation.) response letter for details a Recommendations numbered require further analysis (Attach an explanation and the scope and parameters of an analysis or study, and a timeframe for the matter to be prepared for discussion by the officer or director of the agency or department being investigated or reviewed, including the governing body of the public agency when applicable. This timeframe shall not exceed six months from thê date of publication of the grand jury report.) a Recom mendations numbered P) will not be implemented because they are not warranted or are not reasonable (Attach an explanation.) Date: 5113116 Signed Kathleen Hoertkorn, Mayor Number of pages attached _ Response Form 2O15/2O1ó MAR|A COUATv CtVtL GRAAD JUPy 2015-1ó Veb Tronsporency Report Corcl bringing Marin Countg's Local Gouernments to Light Reporf Dqte: Morch 10, 201ó ?ublic Releose Dote Morch 17,2O1ó aa a a COUNTY OF MARIN Marin County Civil Grand Jury 2015-16 Web Transparency Report Card Bringing Marin County's Local Governments to Light SUMMARY How important are government websites? In April 2015,thePew Research Center reportedl that"65Vo of Americans in the pnor 12 months have used the internet to find data or information pertaining to government". Between October 2015 and January 2016,the Marin County Civil Grand Jury audited local government agencies' websites to evaluate the quality of online information such as budgets, audits and board member information. We found serious deficiencies. The Grand Jury provided each agency with our preliminary audits and described our approach. All agencies were offered the opportunity to improve their websites for a final audit. Many websites significantly improved, while others remained deficient. This audit report provides transparency improvement recommendations for Marin local agency websites. 1 t ß, local agencies were audited: 12 municipalities, 19 school districts, 64 special districts, t-21t 30 joint powers authorities (JPAs), and 1 rail district. 59 local agencies improved their websites, and34received a grade of B- or better. /J tocatagencies have no website: 19 special districts and 8 joint powers authorities (JPAs) Web Transparency Grade Distributions (F to A) Municipalities (12) School Districts (19) lnitial Audit Final Audlt lnitial Audit I Final Audit 10 20 I 15 6 10 4 5 2 I 0 0 F D c BilA F D c B A Special Districts (64) Joint Powers Authorities (30) lnitial Audit I Final Audit lnitial Audit I Final Aud¡t 50 30 40 25 20 30 15 20 10 10 5 0 0 I F D c B A F D c B A t hup://pewinternet.org/files/20 l4l10ÆI OpenData 0728 I 5.pdf 2015-76 Marin Web Transparency Report Card BACKGROUND "A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity." - Dalai Lama Marin residents are likely unaware of all the various agencies that serve them. Their property tax bills list2 the charges assessed by these local agencies3: county, city, school,joint powers authorities, rail districts, special districts, and assessment districts. Appendix A illustrates a sample Marin property tax bill. Increasing transparency for a local agency makes it easier to understand where tax dollars go. Residents should be able to easily find the description of services provided, the names and contact information of board members and managsment, the budget, agendas and minutes of meetings, and other information. Today, the most common source of information is the Internet. Compared with other information sources (i.e., phone calls or emails), online searching is often faster, more detailed, always accessible and anonymous. An effective website presence can also benefit an agency. In the study, Smarter eGovernment: The Economics of Online Services in utah (sponsored by the National Information Consortiuma), the Center for Public Policy and Administration at the University of Utah found that Utah was able to save a total of $46 million in the period of 2007-2011 by making traditionally "offline" (in-office) services available online. State law requires transparency: The Ralph M. Brown Act (public meetings), The California Public Records Act (record keeping), California Fair Political Practices Reporting Requirements (economic interests), and financial reporting. While there is currently no requirement for an agency to have a website, there has been a growing movement to make governmental information available online (the "Open Data" movement).[n2013, President Obama signed an executive order "...that made open and machine-readable data the new default for government information"5, which launched Project Open Data.