Open 311 would be a great project.

http://open311.org/learn/

Jersey City does not conduct employee performance evaluations nor does it conduct internal operational audits.

the open data described below is an incredible opportunity. fyi - https://data.baltimorecity.gov/

the opportunities for Jersey City are unlimited.

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Yes, there is interest in this area. As it happens, my wife spoke at the 1st public "transition meeting" to encourage the city to establish an Open Data Initiative. Her presentation was well received and she was invited to meet with Candice as well as the Technology subcommittee transition team. She has also spoke with Candice about a pilot project that would focus on using open data to analyze the city's energy use.

It will take commitment and resources from the city to make the data available. But the interest is there.

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Wait, START employee evaluations? Does the city seriously not even try to evaluate employees now?

I wonder if anyone in the Fulop administration is thinking about open government initiatives in software. Given that the City's software infrastructure is inadequate, why not go for the cutting edge?

Tim O'Reilly on govenment as a platform:

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He's mostly speaking about government at the national level, but as Fulop has clearly stated, opportunities for innovation are greater at the municipal level.

You can download an O'Reilly book on open government HERE (download the zip file from the link at lower right).

Some remarks with a municipal focus by telecommunications policy expert and professor at Cardozo Law School, Susan Crawford: First steps to Open Gov- getting your ducts in a row.

Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

A 162-page report issued by Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop?s transition team describes city government as an often understaffed bureaucracy that is resistant to change but badly in need of modernization.
The report lists dozens of recommendations for the new mayor, everything from promoting diversity at the police department to increasing the number of computers in the public libraries that have Internet access.

Freeholder Bill O?Dea, an early Fulop supporter who co-chaired the transition team with state Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham, said it shows Jersey City is "not run efficiently" when it comes to technology.

"The city is far behind where it could be when it comes to utilizing things like internet, email, text message communication, things along those lines," said O?Dea.

According to the report, the city uses "index cards and loose-leaf notebooks" when logging information about workers when they retire or are terminated.

The document was compiled from various reports submitted by committees Fulop created as part of his transition team.

It recommends that the city start employee evaluations; revamp its compensation system to attract top talent; and keep the city?s gateways "litter-free and landscaped."

Many of the proposals dovetail with Fulop?s priorities for his new administration, like merging the Jersey City Incinerator Authority and the city Department of Public Works; giving the Mayor?s Action Bureau more teeth; and creating a table of organization for the police department.

Others are new, such as the suggestion the clerk?s office open a few hours a month during the evening.

Fulop acknowledged that some of the recommendations are "a wish list." The top priorities in the report, he said, are public safety and revamping how the city awards incentives to developers.

"Some of it?s probably not going to be implemented. I like to think most of it is," he said.

The report was compiled from information gathered by transition team committee members and from comments made during four public meetings Fulop held after his May 14 election. O?Dea said the report is unprecedented.

"The fact that they were able to pull it together in such a short period of time is a real testimony to people who did the work on it," he said.