Mayor Gary Christenson recently announced the launch of a new City of Malden Transparency Center, meant to provide a platform for residents to gain greater insight into City spending and project management. “This platform is an extension of the award-winning budget platform we unveiled with the Fiscal Year 2022 budget” said Mayor Christenson. “When we began the process of putting to work the American Rescue Plan money we received, we were looking for a tool that would allow us to share our progress with residents every step of the way.” The Transparency Center is part of the Cleargov suite of award-winning software tools for municipal governments that expands the ability of residents looking to understand and participate in government decisions.
Residents may access the new center through the City of Malden website. There, a resident can drill down into the revenue and expenses of the City and any individual department, explore demographic information, or review the status of projects going on across the City. “While of course a work in progress, we’ve built project update pages for such great projects as the Devir Park renovation, the Trafton Park improvements and the previously mentioned American Rescue Plan,” said Mayor Christenson. As an example, a resident looking to gain an understanding of how the Mayor has structured putting to work the American Rescue Plan funding will learn that 10 cross functional teams have been set up that include members of our community. These teams have already approved such great projects as a School Based Health Center at Malden High School, funding for two years for the Malden Cares program, and funds that have supported the wildly popular summer festivals going on this summer to help businesses recover from COVID-19.
“I would encourage residents to take a look and check back often as we continue to load content,” commented Mayor Christenson. “The project management platform allows residents to submit questions or sign up for updates as they are made. “We believe residents will find this a great tool and one that will continue to expand their view into their tax dollars at work."