Cook County unveils new database website

In an effort to make government operations more transparent, Cook County officials unveiled a new website Wednesday featuring data catalogs from a variety of departments.

Officials admitted some of the 80-plus data sets provided at data.cookcountyil.gov have limited functionality, but they hope public demand for more information will spur some hesitant county elected leaders to provide more detailed reports in the future.

Commissioner John Fritchey, a Chicago Democrat who championed the creation of the website, said some of the county’s elected leaders who were asked to participate in the program “see it as punishment.” He wouldn’t name names, but suggested that visitors to the site could tell by the limited information made available by certain agencies.

Board President Toni Preckwinkle hailed the website as another step forward in her pledge to open government to taxpayers.

“I know that the historic lack of transparency and accountability has eroded the legitimacy of Cook County government in many residents’ eyes,” she said.

Government watchdog groups applauded the creation of the site, but were generally unimpressed with its contents. While the website allows visitors to access the county’s spending and payroll, it only provides data for the current year. Reports like the monthly home rule tax collection report and monthly board of ethics report provide no context regarding the figures presented.

While Preckwinkle asserted the data sets were “high value,” some reports lack details. One report from Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office is merely a list of 138 names of individuals and companies who are “scavenger sales buyers.”

“It’s a good starting point for sure,” said Emily Miller, policy and government affairs coordinator at the Chicago-based Better Government Association. “There’s a difference between transparency and providing online data. The information should be accessible and usable to the everyday citizen and a lot of this doesn’t mean anything to me.”

Other reports, like one detailing contacts by lobbyists, show no information on the website.

“They may have a few kinks to work out,” Miller said.

She said county officials should have reached out to users of such data sets like her organization and journalists to assist in the process to make sure data being presented was relevant and useful.