About Reinvent AlbanyWe are particularly interested in the power of the Internet to make our state government more responsive, open and effective. This technology -- which includes the "Social Internet," smart phones and open data is changing everyday life, and has the potential to strengthen our democracy and greatly improve our state government.Reinvent AlbanyRA_bee54d02-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b0New YorkersWe strongly support the work of the patriotic New Yorkers who advocate for more ethical and fairer government. We share many of their goals, and we recognize the importance of their work on fair and clean elections. However, we also bring some new and different perspectives. New York City Transparency Working GroupAs co-chair and coordinator of the New York City Transparency Working Group, we bring together civic technology and good government advocates to create a consensus and take advantage of the opportunities technology offers to make NYC government more open and transparent.Good Government AdvocatesReinvent Albany TeamReinvent Albany has a small, experienced, professional staff and board of directors. We rely on a large circle of expert advisers from government, academia, business and the public interest world. We use our staff as project managers and enlist top tier consultants as needed to produce reports and original research and to help organize events. We also work closely with established advocacy groups and within coalitions dedicated to government transparency, transportation funding, ethics reform and independent redistricting.Reinvent Albany StaffReinvent Albany was started in January 2010. Its founders include prominent members of New York's environmental, transportation and urban sustainability movements.John KaehnyJohn Kaehny, is the executive director and a founding board member, and is the co-chair of the New York City Transparency Working Group. John is an authority on using technology to increase government transparency. At Reinvent Albany he helped win the creation of the state’s open data initiative, open budget website and contributed to major improvements at the Comptroller’s Open Book New York spending site and the Attorney General’s New York Open Government website. John also helped lead the campaign for a transit “lock-box” to end the diversion of transit dedicated funds. John helped lead the campaign for the NYC Open Data Law, and the NYC Open FOIL bill, and is regularly consulted by city agencies on online transparency issues.Prior to co-founding Reinvent Albany, John was a transportation policy consultant for leading New York, national and international environmental groups, and was the longtime executive director of Transportation Alternatives in New York City. John is also the co-founder of the national Alliance for Bicycling and Walking and has served on numerous city and state governmental advisory boards. His writing has appeared in many places including the NY Times, NY Daily News, Albany Times-Union, NY Post and NY Newsday, as well as technical and scholarly journals.Dominic MauroDominic Mauro, staff attorney, is an expert on open data law and policy, and was an important contributor New York State and New York City policies and helped draft the NYC Open Data Law, the NYC OpenFOIL Law and NY State Transit Lockbox. He is a former fellow Institute for Law and Policy and NY Law SchoolPrudence KatzePrudence Katze, policy coordinator, comes to us from the Center for Urban Pedagogy, where she taught classes on housing and public assistance policy. Prudence is a documentary film maker and is currently working on a “City Traced” which examines city development and planning policies from the 1920’s to today.Reinvent Albany Board of DirectorsReinvent Albany's founding board includes prominent members of New York's environmental, transportation and urban sustainability movements, who were so dismayed by the dismal state of affairs in Albany that they decided to take action.John KaehnyJohn Kaehny, founding board member.Mark GortonMark Gorton, founding board member, is the president and founder of OpenPlans, which creates civic empowerment software and publishes Streetsblog and Streetsfilms. He is a prominent voice for livable streets in New York City and other American cities. Mark is also the founder and chairman of Tower Research Capital.Aaron NaparstekAaron Naparstek, founding board member, is a journalist, and a nationally recognized authority on green transportation and sustainable urban development. Aaron is the founding editor-in-chief of Streetsblog, and recently completed time as a visiting lecturer and scholar at MIT and Harvard.Reinvent Albany FundersOur Funding -- Reinvent Albany is funded by donations from New Yorkers and charitable foundations. We receive an in-kind contribution of office space from OpenPlans.org. Reinvent Albany receives no funding from government or businesses._bee54f5a-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b0To promote open, accountable New York State government._bee55068-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b0Government TransparencyOur interest in government transparency and public participation is both practical and idealistic. Public ParticipationAccountabilityAround the world, the governments that are the most effective and least corrupt are also the most transparent and accountable.EffectivenessOnline TransparencyAllow the public to see what our state government is doing, how it spend public funds, and who gets those funds._bee55126-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b01_bee551ee-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b0Open Data[Adopt] laws and directives that put the state's and city's vast wealth of digital information online and make that data easy to find and reuse without restriction._bee552ac-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b02New York StateNew York City_bee55400-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b0OpenFOIL[Adopt] an open and online Freedom of Information Law process that takes full advantage of technology so that FOIL works better, is less expensive, and complements Open Data so that the public information revealed by FOIL is available to all._bee554e6-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b03_bee555b8-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b0Performance Measurement[Institute] online performance measurement for state agencies and authorities accountability, including online publication of clear public goals, priorities and performance measures._bee55676-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b04New York State Agencies_bee55842-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b0Fiscal Honesty[Enforce] fiscal honesty, starting with an end to the diversion of dedicated taxes and fees, including MTA dedicated taxes._bee5590a-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b05_bee559c8-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b0Spending Transparency[Enforce] spending transparency, in particular around off-budget and discretionary spending like business tax credits, which are opaque at risk for corruption, and whose efficacy is difficult to measure._bee55a9a-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b06We have an additional focus on the private finance of public infrastructure, which we strongly oppose._bee55bd0-65de-11e4-8bb5-9473955b75b02014-11-06http://reinventalbany.org/about/OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net