Bureaucrat Registry

[Raineyrocks]

All the links I've provided are public knowledge.  Most of those websites are town or county websites.  The opensecrets.org site has a LOT of useful info, more geared toward national politics, but of course NH is represented as well. 

Nice website, thanks Quantrill!

[Atlas]

Maybe, you can put a little star next to the names of the not-so-bad bureaucrats.

[powerchuter]

Maybe, you can put a little star next to the names of the not-so-bad bureaucrats.

and, perhaps a little tar-pot and a chicken for those not-so-good ones...

ps-just make sure your stars, pots, and birds don't look like bullseyes...lol.

[lildog]

This post is not made with the intention of creating undue paranoia but you should be very cautious about making a list of any sort...regarding public officials...of any stripe...

The jack-booted child snatchers/molesters will do anything and everything in their capability to turn anyone with such a "list" into a "criminal" of some sort...or terrorist...or extremist...or uni-bomber...

I think the "random acts of cleansing" that John Ross and Matthew Bracken wrote about would be much more effective...

After all...
Loose lips sink ships...

Ah, see this is where the Linux geek in me comes out... if it were an open sourced list/database in which anyone could contribute to there would be no one source to go after.

[Quantrill]

Lil Dog, can you hook that up?

I know nothing about computers.  There's quite a bit more info I (anyone) can find online, and it would be nice to condense things into a database like you mentioned.  Error suggested using the wiki.  What do you guys think?  And how does someone like myself who is computer-dumb, go about doing that?

I understand the Big Brother arguments.  But I don't think they go after people who utilize Sunshine Laws or the Freedom of Information Act.  If so, they'd go after opensecrets.org   As long as there is nothing slanderous in there I see no reason to refrain from going ahead with this idea.  And one where anyone could contribute would be the best option.  I'm sure as hell not gonna put in info for every politician in the state.  I'll take Manchester for starters...

[Dave Ridley]

Good to see this idea moving forward.  My thinking would be you're better off focusing on bureaucrats than politicians.  You could end up just increasing the visibility and name recognition of a politician, and politicians can benefit from that.

I suspect bureaucrats, unlike politicians and businesses, don't benefit that much from it

[lildog]

Lil Dog, can you hook that up?

I can help but it may be more work then one person can handle.  If someone wants to grab the reigns I'll climb on the wagon.

Error suggested using the wiki.  What do you guys think?

The only reason I've be against wiki is because there is no control at all.  What I've found on that site is whoever wants to spend the most time monitoring a page wins out as to what the page says.  And if you create a page making a politician look bad by posting (Gasp!) facts about them, there supporters once catching wind of such a page will spend day and night making sure anything putting them in a bad light is edited or removed.

You almost need a website were people would be able to check information in and once in it would not be editable.  Of course it would also need an admin to make sure if anything turns out to be false information is removed because you wouldn't want it to lose credibility by having people posting email conversations they claim to have had with a politician and it turns out they created mocked up information.

hmmmm, now you've got me thinking.  What would be the best way for something like this to work?

[error]

MediaWiki provides various page protection features to prevent vandalism by bureaucrats and their supporters and other violence-loving individuals.

Regardless of whether it's on a wiki or not, I think a site should be dedicated to it.

[Quantrill]

My thinking would be you're better off focusing on bureaucrats than politicians.  You could end up just increasing the visibility and name recognition of a politician, and politicians can benefit from that.

The way I envision it set up is anyone who is a public official or works for the city/county/state would be listed.  As much info as possible would be listed, but strictly facts.  No opinion.  Anytime a politician says something contradictory, that info would be made available.  Anytime a lobbyist takes a Rep. out for lunch, that info would be listed.  SSNs, addresses, phone numbers, vacation homes, criminal records, back taxes not paid, businesses owned, assessed value of properties, pictures, fundraisers, newspaper articles, favorite hangouts, automobile make/model/license plate # etc...

The point is to keep tabs on these people and hold them responsible for their actions.  Lobbyists as well.  KNOWING WHO'S DOING FAVORS FOR THEM would greatly assist us in keeping a watchful eye on these folks...

[error]

Hm. It might not be a good idea to publicize someone's Socialist Slavery Number, even if they are a bureaucrat. As for the rest, absolutely.

[cyberdoo78]

Wow, I never thought my idea would recieve such a response. That being said, I think its obvious that I will give some of my time and effort to the idea of creating the site as I envisioned it, as it appears everyone else seems to be thinking along the same lines. I was thinking exactly what you were thinking Quantrill.

Error, where is this wiki you setup so I can punch start punching in the information? I'm a stay at home dad, so I'm willing to cut some of my World of Warcraft time out in favor of doing something that is far more entertaining.

As a Linux/Computer geek(I actually have a working MythBox and have used it for over a year and I do my own upgrades), I'm willing to lend the time and labor if someone lends the equipment and space.

I was thinking that only registered people can input information into the system. Its all public viewable, but only registered people can edit it.

I agree with Error, lets keep SSN's out of the record, as much fun as it would to be able to allow someone to pull a "Hackers" trick and make someone dead. I still laugh when he gets that call from accounting....

Hosting is hella cheap and I know of a few hosts who will including free domain registration when you sign up. Speaking of which, what do we call this database.

Some suggestions: CBI(Citizens Buraue of Investigations), The Watcher, The "Official Record", The Database of Public Officials, Communists, and Other People(DOPOCOP)?

[error]

Some potential uses of such a registry don't lend themselves well to the wiki format. A more traditional database might be in order. It may be worth considering exactly how someone would use the system before trying to build it.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Send the bureaucrats a form to fill out

[cyberdoo78]

Some potential uses of such a registry don't lend themselves well to the wiki format. A more traditional database might be in order. It may be worth considering exactly how someone would use the system before trying to build it.

If you are going to suggest a problem, please also include a remedy for that problem. Or at least define the issue at hand so others may address it. Its difficult to address an issue something if you don't know where the problem is.

You say 'some potential uses', what specifically are you referring to? As I see it, proper maintenance of a wiki lends itself to every type of conceivable search that I currently have ever asked of it. Its when things are added to it that aren't well formatted that you are correct it makes it difficult to define.

At any rate, I thank you for pointing out there could be a problem.

It may be worth considering exactly how someone would use the system before trying to build it.

I would use it to search by locality, organisation, affiliations, the reasons for them being in the system.

Its more helpful if you ask a question like this to also answer your own question, that way we don't waste space asking you, 'what did you mean' or 'please be more specific and less vague'. So now I waste space in asking, how would you use this database?

[error]

I would use it to look up bureaucrats in the immediate vicinity of wherever I happen to be, so that I can be forewarned if one of them attempts to enter my place of business. I can't think of any immediate way in which a wiki would facilitate such a geographic search.