Saturday, November 28, 2015

City Analyst Group Exposes Lack of Transparency at West Covina City Hall

This is the Randy Economy Show for Saturday, November, 28, 2015. Co-Host is Frank Girardot and Tony Aiello. TOPIC: City’s that don’t respond to public record requests. Project from Pepperdine University Calling in was Professor Matthew Peterson, School of Public Policy, Pepperdine University IN STUDIO ARE: Pepperdine School of Public Policy Students: Alyssa Gray Danielle Merriweather In a Pepperdine University School of Public Policy class taught by Dr. Matthew J. Peterson on the intersection of media with state and local government, graduate students were assigned a class project: get campaign contribution records for candidates running for elected office in 2012-2015 in the City of Carson, CA and the City of West Covina, CA, analyze the records, and then publicize our findings. The cities were chosen by our professor because each city had experience political turmoil in recent years. The class was divided into two groups. We shared ideas as a class in what was named the City Analyst Group. The City Analyst Group believes that local governments and elected officials should be accessible, transparent and accountable for their performance. Our aim was to a) find out what it takes for the average citizen to obtain and analyze the campaign contribution forms, which by law are public record, and b) reveal major influences on critical public policy issues within these cities to the public.

No comments: