October 14, 2024 — Now that Oakland residents have received their election ballots, they also have two easy-to-use tools that put information on the funding sources of local campaigns at their fingertips and as close as their smart phones. The Public Ethics Commission (PEC) announced the availability of two interactive disclosure tools updated for the November 2024 election, Open Disclosure (www.opendisclosure.io) and Show Me the Money, designed to show the 'who' and 'where' of Oakland campaign spending.
OpenDisclosure is a nonpartisan website developed in partnership with Open Oakland, a volunteer collective dedicated to bridging the gap between community and technology, to give all Oakland residents easy access to campaign finance data. The website is updated daily with data imported directly from the city’s campaign finance database and includes a notification system that sends subscribers alerts about new campaign reports, summaries of how much money candidates raised locally and from out of state donors, as well as top spenders on local ballot issues. The OpenDisclosure team hopes Oakland residents will use the information on the site to inform their decisions at the polls and to hold their politicians accountable.
To use “Show me the money,” enter the name of a candidate in the search box to generate a map showing the sources of campaign cash. The application also shows a bar chart of top contributors and a graph of contributions over time. Up to three candidates may be selected at a time for comparison. Like the Commission’s other campaign finance projects, the app is updated daily with data exported directly from the city’s campaign finance database.
