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Alexandra Bjerg

Civic startup shows real-time performance of city governments
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In a time of scarce resources and looming bankruptcies, cities are increasingly turning to Big Data to become more efficient. Into this space is where civic startups are putting some Silicon Valley innovation and know-how into making government work better.

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California state payroll transparency site reveals interesting city data
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According to a completely redesigned website showing wage and benefit data for public employees across California, at an average annual salary of over $100,000, Indian Wells city employees have the highest average wages compared to any city in the state.

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California elections reflect historic national Latino turnout
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Over the last several election cycles much has been said about the potential impact of the Latino vote. Would 2012 be the year the sleeping giant, composed of roughly 24 million eligible Latino voters, awakes? Based on Tuesday’s preliminary results, the answer is a resounding yes.

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Vallejo residents directly decide how to spend sales tax revenue
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How would you spend $3.2 million to improve your city? The city of Vallejo is asking residents to decide that very question.

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Despite media narrative, California electorate not as diverse as population
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Although you might not know it given that the mobilization of the Latino voting bloc is one of the main reasons cited by the media for President Obama’s re-election, California’s electorate does not yet reflect the state population’s racial diversity.

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Voting tech: We’ve come a long way since hanging chads
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This year, as in every other important election year, there has been quite a bit of discussion about the status of the nation’s elections process and the potential for voting system failure. The good news is that, according to a new report by the Caltech-MIT Voting Technology Project, voting technology has come along way since the infamous “hanging chads” fiasco of 2000.

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Santa Ana bolsters transparency efforts by approving Sunshine Ordinance
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Earlier this week, the City of Santa Ana agreed to let the sunshine in. On Monday the city council approved the community driven “Sunshine Ordinance” designed to bring transparency to City Hall.

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