Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom Endorses Prop. 54

October 19, 2016 – Today, the Lieutenant Governor of California, Gavin Newsom announced his endorsement of Proposition 54.  Lieutenant Governor Newsom joins a large bipartisan coalition of organizations and individuals in support of Prop 54, a statewide initiative on the November 2016 ballot that will bring transparency to the state Legislature, rein in special interest influence, and empower voters to participate more fully in the legislative process.

“While we have changed the way we access and absorb information through technology, government remains in the analog age and this serves only to create a democratic deficit,” said Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, author of the book Citizenville, which explores civic participation in the digital age. “Proposition 54 offers sunlight and transparency, inviting citizens to be closer to the process of governing again.”

Lt. Governor Newsom has been a long-time advocate for creating greater transparency in government.   In June 2015, Lt. Governor Newsom and former state Senator Sam Blakeslee launched Digital Democracy, a pioneering online and interactive platform that merges cutting-edge technologies, giving individuals the tools to transform the relationship between citizens and their government.

Proposition 54 will bring the California State Legislature into the 21st Century by requiring all legislation to be in print and publicly posted online in its final form at least 72 hours before it may pass out of either house of the State Legislature, requiring all open legislative meetings to be audiovisual recorded and posted online within 24 hours, and granting all individuals the right to record and share videos of public legislative proceedings.

Lt. Governor Newsom joins a growing list of prominent Democrats who have endorsed the measure, including California State Controller Betty Yee, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former California Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin.  Proposition 54 is also supported by a broad and diverse coalition of organizations including the League of Women Voters of California, California State Conference of the NAACP, League of California Cities, California Common Cause, California Forward, California Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business/CA, Latin Business Association, California Business Roundtable, California Planning and Conservation League, First Amendment Coalition, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, CalTax, and many others.

As mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom used technology to bring unprecedented levels of transparency, accountability and accessibility to City Hall.  Establishing DataSF, 311, and SFStat, Newsom was responsible for bringing the first open API into government, the first governmental integration of Twitter into services, and creating the first open data policy in the nation that resulted in 200 different open-source format datasets being made available for use by the general public. The datasets led to the creation of more than 50 applications created by developers using City data, including Routesy, SFPark, CrimeMapping, and Mom Maps.

#  #  #