The Vermont Recovery Office information website is rated among lowest in the nation. Vermont’s official recovery web site scored 13; it’s at the bottom with 11 other states. We are tied with Alaska and fall below Louisiana’s score of 16. Online news site Vtdigger tells about the study conducted by Good Jobs First,(pdf) the results of which were released by VPIRG. This updates an earlier effort to rank how effective state recovery websites are in basic transparency. Vermont scored low in that review also.  

States are judged on how well their sites convey information in these areas:

• categories of stimulus spending

• distribution of spending in different parts of the state

• details of specific projects funded by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grants and contracts incl. impact on employment  

One of Tom Evslin’s prime tasks as Vermont’s Chief Recovery Officer was to make public information available about how our money was being spent.  It was the order of the day failed. ARRA mandated that federal, state and local government organizations receiving stimulus funds report data on how and where these funds are being spent, so that citizens could monitor the expenditure and use of recovery funds.  

The Burlington Free Press reports that Vermont officials now claim they wanted a no frills web page to save money. No estimate of the alleged savings is available. When asked about specific information one Vermont official said it was available by request and added

“We don’t withhold information. We have elected not to put it all on the Web. … It would take a contractor to do that.”

Frills aside, they offer no explanation why, according to this study, even the basic website fails to meet so many requirements for accountability and transparency.    

After less than one year as Chief Recovery Officer and with the state at the bottom of the pack by this assessment, Evslin moved on .He was appointed by Governor Douglas as Vermont Chief Technology Officer.In this capacity he will be in charge of reviving the stalled E-State initiative and overseeing the state’s new smart grid technology applications.