Intro 1017 of 2015, the “Freelancers Union” bill I’ll be demo’ing tonight
After nine years of non-profit web development*, it’s my first time demo’ing on stage at NY Tech MeetUp tonight, the nation’s largest with nearly 50,000 members – some 750 RSVP’d, full up. Cool. Here’s the Freelancers Union bill, Intro 1017Â on late payments, that I’ll be presenting, for handy reference.
Please find below some ways NYC technophiles can support our public-benefit work on NYC engagement – simply email: info@councilmatic.org. That’s it, I’ll respond. I mean, I’m on Twttr too, but just email us.
- Use our open data – no one else has an open feed for every item of NYC legislation, committee agendas and public hearings. We liberate it – know a company that needs updates on real estate, zoning or small business issues?
- Comment on the NYC bills you’re tracking – for example, in the tech committee. This improves use of our open public forum, and we’ll promote your comments to decision makers in city government.
- Ask your NYC council member to become verified, free of charge, all volunteer – for public dialogue on local issues. Find your council member and contact info.
- Sponsor our open-source development on forthcoming Councilmatic alert features. Get email alerts, SMS notifications and social media updates on committee business, local issues and major events. We’ll have thousands of daily alert subscribers in NYC alone, building towards a nationwide user base.
- Run a public comment program on our platform with our “verified” NYC Council offices on a neighborhood issue, tech issue (e.g. NYC procurement reforms), or newsworthy topic (sharing economy business regulations). We can reach dozens of targeted NYC Council office staff with your group’s message.
- Contribute to our open code, data and help us roll out Councilmatic to more cities.
At the Feb. 2007 launch of OpenCongress. Coming up on ten years in the game. I was optimistic about open-source, non-profit tech.
Here’s the deal. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 non-profit (annual budget: just $75,000, that’s hilarious). We make hugely popular web resources for “interested bystanders” and issue activists, filling a need for open infrastructure for civic participation and closing the feedback loop of local engagement.
But we don’t have core funding support, full-time project funding, major philanthropic donors, regular earned-income revenue, a wealthy Board or a fundraising Advisory Council. So we seek charitable funding to maintain open-source, open-data resources such as Councilmatic, used by thousands of people in each city where it’s up every month. A $25,000 gift would make a huge difference in keeping NYC Councilmatic up and running as soon as this summer – we have virtually no overhead, so your tax-exempt donation goes to the project. Just doing the open work. Not the D.C. non-profit professional industrial complex. Get in touch, email me: david at ppolitics.org.
For updates, follow: NYCCouncilmatic on Twttr & Facebook. About us. Get PPF emails every other month or so.
* = (PPF: OpenCongress, Formaggedon, Contact-Congress, GovKit, OpenGovernment, DemocracyMap, AskThem, X11, forthcoming CandidateGrades.org for “Team Democracy”.)