In January, the city of Austin received an award for government transparency from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Mayor Kirk Watson said the accolade represented the city’s “ongoing commitment to making transparent, informed decisions that enhance quality of life in every neighborhood and strengthen our community.”
Removing so much public information, without clearly explaining what was taken down, marks a step away from transparency. The city should clarify exactly what was removed and where residents can find that information now.
City staff told the Statesman’s Chaya Tong that much of the content taken off the website included PDFs that did not meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, as well as pages with inconsistent tone and formatting issues. Regardless of why the pages were dropped, however, the public deserves to know what type of information they contained.
City spokesperson Memi Cárdenas told us a “large portion” of the previous website was “outdated or duplicative,” but did not describe the kind of content that was removed.
Yasmin Wagner, Austin’s communications and engagement digital and creative services manager, told the Statesman that website metrics played a role in the cuts. She argued that pages receiving only “two page views every couple of months” are “probably not a good use of city resources to continue to gather that data and publish it.”
We disagree. Public information is not a popularity contest. The city’s website isn’t there to get clicks. Its purpose is to provide information that residents need to ensure their government is functioning efficiently, effectively and in the public interest.
Those two clicks may have come from reporters who put the information into context for a much broader audience. They may mean the difference between weak oversight and good governance. Reporters have already begun encountering “Page Not Found” messages when searching for records they once relied on.
Wagner’s statement implies the city is saving money by no longer hosting those pages online, but the extent of those savings isn’t clear. Cárdenas told us the savings will likely be “indirect,” adding that the “bigger value” will be in the enhanced user experience of the new site.
Eliminating duplicate pages makes sense. But given the sizable amount of information removed, the public deserves a fuller description of what those pages contained and where that information is now stored.
Watson, who championed legislation as a state senator to strengthen Texas’ public records law, has long emphasized the importance of open government. His administration should continue that work by ensuring city records remain accessible online, even as the website evolves.
The city is right to tout its awards, but it must demonstrate it is living up to them. Transparency is about ensuring the public has the tools to participate in decisions and understand what City Hall is doing. That starts with a website known for what it contains, not what is missing.