This is a website for building a coalition to bring open government to Baltimore.  This is just a start that will require many people from all walks of life in Baltimore to join in supporting the effort.

What is Open Government?

Most people think of open government as being transparency, but it requires much more than that to be effective.  In addition to being able to obtain public information from the municipal government, you also need to be notified anytime anything will be affecting your interests.  Then you need a better way to interact with the government through proactive public participation.  Finally, you need a way for those in government to be held accountable in real time instead of having to wait until their next election.

These then are the 4 pillars of open government: 

• transparency and access
• timely notification
• proactive public participation
• official accountability. 

More will appear here to explain how these can be accomplished through an amendment of the Baltimore City Charter in 2022.  Until then there is much that needs to be done to make sure it is successful.