At first glance, I thought, WOW! What a fantastic idea and tool for our community;
A new database, OpenSiouxFalls, will become a central repository for data reflecting the metro area’s workforce, economy, social services, education and quality of life.
Like I said, great idea. But one wonders why the Chamber, the City or the Development Foundation weren’t already using such a database? Maybe they have been, but by the sounds of the development of this site, you wonder how comprehensive it is?
Beta testing for the first phase of the project is planned for this summer.
So has this information been used in the past by organizations? And if so, who was the gatekeeper? Like the affordable housing study by Thrive, one wonders if anyone has been compiling such essential information or just flying by the seat of their pants?
I applaud the efforts to make this public, let’s hope they pull it off smoothly and actually make something public that seems to have been either stored in a safe for a very long time or didn’t exist at all.
It’s lots of relevant data that gets conveniently trashed when there’s an investigation. The only trusted information is what private citizens post on YouTube at their expense. There’s opportunity for a 501C. Protecting democracy can’t be IRS questioned. The watchdogs can be compensated. We’ll write off memberships at Huether Tennis and sit in the same Super Bowl box paid for and deductible by taxpayers. PAC can’t be vetoed like petitions.