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Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Board of Aldermen Attendance Percentages

On the City's Meeting Portal, attendance information on the Board of Aldermen is available with just a few clicks. Selecting the upper right tab, Contact Us, leads to a page featuring list of the subcommittees and their members. Each members name is linked to a separate page that features the percentage of specific meetings they attended, including, Board meetings. Clicking on a Board of Alderman member's name will reveal their attendance percentages and, in some cases, how they vote and their submissions through the board.

Please note that there are considerations that need to be made when analyzing this data. For example, the number of meetings that a committee has held can impact a member's percentage. Meaning, if a member has 50% attendance rate, it could be a result of attending 1 out of 2 meetings that were held. On the other hand, committees such as the Finance Committee, need numerous meetings throughout the year for budget discussions and monetary appropriations requested by the mayor.

It is only July, so this is not an "end of the year" result. Family issues, vacations, and membership on separate Boards and Commissions, such as the Traffic Commission could impact percentages, as well. Also, I don't know how much of a meeting a member has to remain at to receive full credit, but I have seen them leave early and be marked absent in the clerk's notes. 
    I have linked to their respective pages below which includes an email address and telephone number, as well as, a small voting history.For Ward 5ers, I do have Alderman Sean O'Donovan's submissions located on his page. As far as I know, this is the only full publication of an Alderman's legislative history (hint, hint).

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