While President Barack Obama continues to stress the importance of creating a more open and transparent government, Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Accounts John Franck has been implementing such ideas in city government through the use of technology since taking office.
When Franck ran for his first term in 2005, he recognized that the city
had an archaic technological system in place so he decided to run on a
platform of improving the city's technology to make things more
efficient and open to the public.
"I couldn't understand why I could look up a home listing on Roohan Realty's website and find all their listings, but residents could not do the same with their assessments,'" he said.
While Franck strived to make online assessments a reality, others were not so keen on the idea of being able to access such public records online. He said some people were so concerned over it that they made posters saying "your identity is going to be stolen if John Franck wins."
Franck did win and within six weeks of taking office he had a basic online system implemented in the city's Accounts Department.
"I thought everything was going to be hard to turn around quickly, but we had an online system within six weeks," he said. "And what started out as a very rudimentary system has now developed not only into one of the best in Saratoga County but one of the best in New York State and we are proud of that."
Franck said that having such public information online has made things much easier for people to access their records via computer, and for those who don't own a computer they are able to go to the Accounts Department where they will show them their assessment online - before they would have to visit the department and sift through thick binders.
"It just opens up the whole process," he said.
Franck said that he has also not had one complaint with the new system in the three years he has been in office. He added that Saratoga Springs is the only municipality in Saratoga County that holds a course a few weeks before Grievance Day to show people not only how to grieve their assessment but also how to use the online system.
"You don't hear the same complaints anymore because the fear is gone," he said.
Franck also said that when he entered office people who challenged their assessments were only successful about 18 percent of the time and today 50 percent of challenged grievances are changed.
Not only has Franck made the assessment process easier on residents, he has also made it at no expense to the tax payer having acquired hundreds of thousands of dollars through a type of state grant called a SARA Grant.
"Most of the initiatives we have implemented have not cost the taxpayers one penny," he said.
While Franck's use of technology has been important to opening up the process of assessments, he has also been able to implement a number of other high-tech initiatives to increase technology in City Hall and make the government more open to the public including making public information like agendas, meeting minutes, bids and licensing documents more readily available and searchable online. City Council meetings have also become more accessible to the public as Franck was able implement a system to stream live web casts of the meetings online. People can also go back into a database to view video of past meetings. Franck said because of this a number of meeting minutes have been changed because people can actually go back and prove what they have said if they feel the original minutes had been recorded wrong. He added that this was especially helpful during the previous administration when the Democrats were constantly fighting and people would film the meetings and cut the video to make it more conducive to their political agenda.
"That might still work on YouTube but the true story is going to come out because we have the live web casts," he said. "The technology has been great and it has helped to create a level playing field."
Franck is also currently pushing for computer web casts of the planning, zoning and design review boards in order to make them more transparent as well.
"It is very important for people to see what is going on in there so they understand the process," he said.
He also added that Commissioner of Finance Ken Ivins is currently working on changing the interface to the city's web site in order to make it more user-friendly. They hope to have the new web site up and running within the next few weeks.
All of these initiatives, like the assessment database, have also been implemented through the acquisition of the SARA Grant and have come at no cost to the taxpayer. On top of that they have also helped to make City Hall more efficient and reduce the consumption of paper and postage.
"My original idea was not for it to be a green initiative, but in the end it has become a green initiative and makes things a little easier around the office," he said.
Currently, Franck's office is working on implementing a system that will allow for the entire guide of the city archives' historical records to be made available digitally on the city's web site in order to facilitate research and reference. Right now, the records sit in thick binders and are not very user-friendly.
"All of these systems are designed to improve service to residents by making information readily retrievable and through enhanced information accessibility in the sprit of openness and transparency," Deputy Commissioner of Accounts Michele Boxley said.
Franck said that they have not been applying for as many grants as of late because they are aware of what type of financial situation that New York State currently finds itself in, but they intend to continue to improve technology in City Hall in order to make public information more accessible to residents and also to help save their tax dollars.
"It may only be pennies but pennies make dimes and dimes make quarters and they add up quickly," he said.
"I couldn't understand why I could look up a home listing on Roohan Realty's website and find all their listings, but residents could not do the same with their assessments,'" he said.
While Franck strived to make online assessments a reality, others were not so keen on the idea of being able to access such public records online. He said some people were so concerned over it that they made posters saying "your identity is going to be stolen if John Franck wins."
Franck did win and within six weeks of taking office he had a basic online system implemented in the city's Accounts Department.
"I thought everything was going to be hard to turn around quickly, but we had an online system within six weeks," he said. "And what started out as a very rudimentary system has now developed not only into one of the best in Saratoga County but one of the best in New York State and we are proud of that."
Franck said that having such public information online has made things much easier for people to access their records via computer, and for those who don't own a computer they are able to go to the Accounts Department where they will show them their assessment online - before they would have to visit the department and sift through thick binders.
"It just opens up the whole process," he said.
Franck said that he has also not had one complaint with the new system in the three years he has been in office. He added that Saratoga Springs is the only municipality in Saratoga County that holds a course a few weeks before Grievance Day to show people not only how to grieve their assessment but also how to use the online system.
"You don't hear the same complaints anymore because the fear is gone," he said.
Franck also said that when he entered office people who challenged their assessments were only successful about 18 percent of the time and today 50 percent of challenged grievances are changed.
Not only has Franck made the assessment process easier on residents, he has also made it at no expense to the tax payer having acquired hundreds of thousands of dollars through a type of state grant called a SARA Grant.
"Most of the initiatives we have implemented have not cost the taxpayers one penny," he said.
While Franck's use of technology has been important to opening up the process of assessments, he has also been able to implement a number of other high-tech initiatives to increase technology in City Hall and make the government more open to the public including making public information like agendas, meeting minutes, bids and licensing documents more readily available and searchable online. City Council meetings have also become more accessible to the public as Franck was able implement a system to stream live web casts of the meetings online. People can also go back into a database to view video of past meetings. Franck said because of this a number of meeting minutes have been changed because people can actually go back and prove what they have said if they feel the original minutes had been recorded wrong. He added that this was especially helpful during the previous administration when the Democrats were constantly fighting and people would film the meetings and cut the video to make it more conducive to their political agenda.
"That might still work on YouTube but the true story is going to come out because we have the live web casts," he said. "The technology has been great and it has helped to create a level playing field."
Franck is also currently pushing for computer web casts of the planning, zoning and design review boards in order to make them more transparent as well.
"It is very important for people to see what is going on in there so they understand the process," he said.
He also added that Commissioner of Finance Ken Ivins is currently working on changing the interface to the city's web site in order to make it more user-friendly. They hope to have the new web site up and running within the next few weeks.
All of these initiatives, like the assessment database, have also been implemented through the acquisition of the SARA Grant and have come at no cost to the taxpayer. On top of that they have also helped to make City Hall more efficient and reduce the consumption of paper and postage.
"My original idea was not for it to be a green initiative, but in the end it has become a green initiative and makes things a little easier around the office," he said.
Currently, Franck's office is working on implementing a system that will allow for the entire guide of the city archives' historical records to be made available digitally on the city's web site in order to facilitate research and reference. Right now, the records sit in thick binders and are not very user-friendly.
"All of these systems are designed to improve service to residents by making information readily retrievable and through enhanced information accessibility in the sprit of openness and transparency," Deputy Commissioner of Accounts Michele Boxley said.
Franck said that they have not been applying for as many grants as of late because they are aware of what type of financial situation that New York State currently finds itself in, but they intend to continue to improve technology in City Hall in order to make public information more accessible to residents and also to help save their tax dollars.
"It may only be pennies but pennies make dimes and dimes make quarters and they add up quickly," he said.
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