The city of Albany hopes to establish an Open Data Policy in an effort to promote accountability around public records.
Local Law "K" of 2026 would streamline the city's open data goals, which include decreasing time spent on Freedom of Information Law requests and increasing transparency between the city and its residents.
The ordinance, if passed, would create an Open Data Management Team who would routinely publish public records on an accessible web page for all city residents.
Council President Pro-Tempore Ginnie Farrell, who sponsored the legislation, says the local law is meant to help the city stay more accountable.
"This is information that the public should have easy access to, and shouldn't necessarily have to go through a FOIL process [to get]." said Farrell. "And then on the other side, there is a good amount of staff time that's spent on FOIL requests and putting them together, things like that. [It] wouldn't have to happen if the information was just out there on a website."
Albany previously operated a similar Open Data Portal called OpenAlbany. The portal was supposed to provide residents with information about the city, such as how much city employees made and crime statistics for different neighborhoods. An archived webpage shows the portal has not been online since mid January.
