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State Auditor McCuskey addresses Parkersburg City Council

PARKERSBURG — Parkersburg City Council heard a presentation at Tuesday’s meeting from West Virginia Auditor J.B. McCuskey about increasing governmental transparency.

McCuskey and his Transparency and Oversight Manager, Skylar Wotring, spoke to council about the Opengov.com website.

“We started it because there was a disconnect between citizens and government, and often-times it’s a rumor mill problem,” said McCuskey said of the website.

McCuskey said that this creates citizens who do not understand what the government is doing.

“What we were trying to build and what I believe we have built is a platform that is going to enable citizens to understand, in true terms, in actual terms, and in real time what you are doing, why you are doing it and how you are doing it,” he said.

McCuskey said the website and its information will facilitate a conversation between the citizens and the city government. The program will give citizens access to all of the ways their tax dollars are being spent. It also gives the city government the ability to communicate with citizens and explain how the city is doing the things that it is asked.

McCuskey said the website will help the city build trust with its citizens. It will also help create social media posts, audits, graphs and have information available at the fingertips of the citizens. He will also provide this service for all counties and cities in the state of West Virginia.

Councilmembers Jesse Cottrille, Mike Reynolds and Chris Rexroad were absent from the meeting on Tuesday.

Council approved the final reading of an ordinance to amend Article 125.01 concerning EMT certification pay for the Parkersburg Fire Department.

Council also approved the first readings of two other ordinances. One amends Article 1705 concerning more flexibility to the city with the Building Enforcement Agency, while the other amends Article 1701 to provide a mechanism for obtaining an administrative search warrant requiring inspection of properties where owners refuse entry or cannot be located.

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