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Speeches
I'd like to welcome all of you and thank you for attending this hearing – which will hopefully lead the revival an important City institution – the Commission of Public Information and Communication, or CoPIC.
The New York City charter was amended in 1989 to create a body that would make the administration more transparent to the citizens it serves and would encourage the public to become more actively involved in government.
That body was CoPIC. And the Public Advocate was named its chair.
I am happy to be here to serve as that chair.
Back when it was first formed, CoPIC was successful. The Commission was able to get City Council meetings televised and in 1993 published a Public Data Directory of computerized information produced or maintained by City agencies.
We were on our way to making the City government more accessible and comprehensible to the people of New York .
Unfortunately, under the Giuliani administration, funding for CoPIC was allowed to lapse.
It's no surprise that, at that time, New York earned a reputation for having abysmal standards for public access to information.
Since then, there has been a surge of new technology in our daily lives, and government agencies are relying on computers more than ever before.
I see this as a golden opportunity for a restored, rejuvenated CoPIC.
For many New Yorkers, public information could be just a mouse-click away if there were a single body gathering and making it available to them.
Faster, more efficient access to information isn't just a service to the public. It will enable our government to operate at a higher level.
For example, the Department of Education has begun implementing sweeping reforms to our city's school system. We have all heard and read about confusion and concern among students, parents, and teachers, who often simply don't know what is happening or what to expect.
DOE has withheld information on critical issues such as crime, building safety, major curriculum changes, and reorganization, not just from my office, but also from the press.
Recently we tried to navigate the new Department of Education web site to access information about the structural conditions of individual schools, information that had previously been easy to obtain from the web.
Now that information is either gone or so difficult to access that a group of internet savvy researchers couldn't find it.
Perhaps when you leave this meeting you will have a chance to log on to the DOE web site to see for yourself why CoPIC needs to be revived.
When the public is properly informed about what the administration is doing, the administration can spend less time addressing complaints and confusion and more time making its policies work for the people of New York .
Again, thank you for coming here. And to everyone who has maintained an interest in CoPIC over the years – your dedication is much appreciated.
Now I'd like to turn it over to my colleague, Council Member Gail Brewer, who has long been active in reviving CoPIC and has done a stellar job as head of the City Councils Technology committee.
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