Mayor Mike McGinn today announced the launch of a new city website to track how federal stimulus money is used in Seattle.

The website, Recovery.Seattle.Gov, shows how the city is using money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in seven investment areas: economic development, community development, social services, public safety, environment, energy, and transportation.

So far, Seattle has received about $107 million through ARRA, including a $20 million Department of Energy grant for energy retrofits in Seattle neighborhoods. The site includes a “Seattle Stimulus Jobs Counter” that reports stimulus funds accounted for 198.53 full-time equivalent jobs in the city during the first quarter of the year.

In addition to grants received, the new website tracks pending grant applications. The basic grant information, financial spending and vendor payment data will be updated weekly from the city’s financial systems.

“Sharing this information with the public reinforces accountability to ensure that these dollars are wisely and efficiently spent,” McGinn said. “The important lessons learned from putting this new website together will serve as a model for tracking and monitoring other applications in the future. I commend the good work of the city’s project team. This website is a great example of how our city government can work to share information with the public better.”

Stimulus dollars directly benefit local businesses and nonprofits throughout the entire city.

Julie Pham, co-owner of Northwest Vietnamese News, said, “Northwest Vietnamese News needed the funds to increase our cash-flow so that we could make necessary improvements to better serve the local Vietnamese community. With this loan, we have been able to increase circulation, expand distribution, and develop our website.” Northwest Vietnamese News received a small business load funded through the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund.

Carol Mullin, Director of Jewish Family Service, added, “Previously, clients received two ‘pre-packed’ bags. Now, however, clients actually shop, according to personal needs, for approximately 25 pounds of food and non-food items. The expansion has also increased our capacity to store and deliver food by as much as 100 percent, reducing the need for off-site ware¬housing and related transportation costs.” The Jewish Family Service Polack Food Bank received a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant.

Recovery.Seattle.Gov is in addition to other Mayor’s Office projects to increase government transparency. The Mayor’s Office launched Data.Seattle.Gov in February 2010 to share significant amounts of information about operations and infrastructure, such as locations of city facilities, schools, and food banks. Data collected from the mayor’s Youth and Families Initiative is also shared on Data.Seattle.Gov. The Seattle Channel and the Mayor’s Office teamed up earlier this year to live-stream public-budget hearings for the first time. The new live-streaming capability can be embedded anywhere on the Internet and is an ongoing project to include the greatest number of Seattle residents in their city government.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Background

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law as a direct response to the nation’s deepening economic crisis. The Recovery Act represents a $787 billion funding package that includes direct funding, tax cuts and tax benefits. The Recovery Act has three immediate goals:

• Create new jobs and save existing ones
• Spur economic activity and invest in long-term growth
• Foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Posted by: Aaron Pickus, Assistant Communications Director