Honolulu’s top three mayoral candidates – Kirk Caldwell, Peter Carlisle and Ben Cayetano – signed “An Open Government Pledge for Honolulu,” according to a political watchdog group, GovFresh.
The pledge is modeled after one initiated by President Obama for the federal government, and a similar pledge was created for and signed by 2011 San Francisco mayoral candidates in May 2011, according to Luke Fretwell, Founder of GovFresh.
The candidates are in the Saturday, August 11 Primary election. If any candidate receives 50 percent of the vote plus one vote, they win. If not, the top two voter getters move on to the November 6, 2012, General Election.
The full pledge is below:
Honolulu Mayoral Candidate Commitment to Open Government
Open government is the movement to improve government by making government more transparent, participatory, collaborative, accountable, efficient, and effective. Open government will help build the public’s trust and satisfaction in government, will improve government’s delivery of services, and will create new opportunities for innovation.
I, _______________________, commit to support the following principles of open government:
Transparency: To increase accountability, promote informed public participation, and create economic development opportunities, the city shall expand access to public information in a standard machine readable format.
Participation: To create more informed and effective policies, the city shall enhance and expand opportunities for the public to participate throughout decision-making processes.
Collaboration: To more effectively fulfill its obligations to citizens, the city will enhance and expand its practices of cooperation among city departments, other governmental agencies, the public, and non-profit and private.With the rise of new technologies and an increasingly connected population, a growing pressure has been placed on government leaders and government entities to adopt these open government principles. I will take steps to ensure Honolulu meets these demands and supports citizens’ needs.
By supporting open government efforts, Honolulu will build on and enhance opportunities for citizens to inform government; will further develop the city’s transparency and accountability; and develop a platform to support innovation.
Furthermore, I will support developing a legal framework to support open government, and I will ensure open government efforts are appropriately funded and managed, which will help build a culture of open government.
Honolulu is already a leader in supporting innovation through sharing government data and is a leader in the open government movement.
I will ensure the city and all of its departments continue in this direction to create the model of local open government.
I commit to working with city officials and the public to ensure open government and innovation continue to grow in Honolulu.