Efforts by Los Angeles’ controller to open up city fiscal data took on an added dimension when Covid-19 hit.
Los Angeles Controller Ron Galperin says that by the time he arrived on the job as the city’s chief taxpayer watchdog he’d developed something of an obsession with where L.A.’s revenues came from and how they were being spent.
Wanting to understand why the city at times didn’t have the money for certain priorities was one factor driving this interest, explained Galperin, who worked as an attorney, small business owner and journalist before being elected to his post in 2013. “I ran for controller because I believed that we had to run our city much more effectively and that data was a key,” he said during a recent virtual conference held by the National League of Cities.
One of his priorities since taking office has been opening up the city’s financial data so that it’s available online for residents and city staff and officials to easily access and scrutinize.
Route Fifty
by Bill Lucia
NOV 24, 2021