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My name is Matt MacDonald, I moved to Watertown, MA in the spring of 2010. I blog here, muck with municipal data at http://www.nearbyfyi.com and work at http://www.prx.orgI’m interested in learning more about how our world works. I love data, I write software and tools to help explain and visualize that data and I enjoy sharing what I find with others.
If a picture can speak a 1,000 words data visualization can speak 1,000,000. I think visualizations of data can help explain very complex topics and data does not lie.
Category Archives: Municipalities
Visualization of the Watertown, MA Teachers Contract text 2006-2009
Hi, A number of parents have been invited to a meeting organized by Deb King the president of the Watertown Educators Association, to learn and discuss with the union about how the lack of a contract will be handled by … Continue reading
Posted in Government, Municipalities, Schools, Watertown
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Discuss crime and fire incident data in Watertown, MA with Chief Deveau and Chief Orangio
Hi Chief Deveau and Chief Orangio, A commenter on an article that I wrote in the Watertown Patch made an astute observation about relationships being key in establishing mutual trust and respect. I agree. My initial information request asking for … Continue reading
Posted in Fire, FOIA, Government, Municipalities, Police
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Thinking about a Watertown, MA data catalog
Hi, I’ve been thinking about how we could share the data already collected by the town and what services might be created in a Watertown, MA if we build a data catalog. I would love to see a data catalog … Continue reading
Posted in Municipalities, Watertown
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Access to Police Department crime reports and a suggestion to the Town Council about creating a Public Collaboration Committee
Hi Mr. Town Manager, Chief Deveau, members of the Honorable Town Council and other Town Department Heads, I could not find email addresses for all Department Heads on the Town website. Please forward as appropriate. As some of you may … Continue reading
Posted in Fire, FOIA, Government, Municipalities, Police, Schools, Watertown
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Our Fast Food Democracy
Hi, There are a number of negative comments made about the effectiveness of our Watertown, MA Town Council / Manager form of government and the decisions made by our Town Manager. A common complaint that I read in the TAB, … Continue reading
Posted in Government, Municipalities, Watertown
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Block the Watertown Retirement Board recommendation to increase the Cost of Living Adjustment
Hi, I’m asking that you help me encourage our Watertown, MA Town Councilors to reject the recommendation and request from the Watertown Retirement Board to increase the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) base. This vote will have direct long term … Continue reading
Posted in Budget, Government, Municipalities, Pensions, Watertown
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An update on continuing to get Watertown, MA police report logs published
I’ve had an ongoing dialog and Freedom of Information Request with the Watertown, MA police department about getting access to the computer aided dispatch logs. I was asked to call Capt. Rocca after my latest follow up. Please call me … Continue reading
Posted in FOIA, Government, Municipalities, Police
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The ability to see raw numbers in police crime data matters
Yesterday I came across the article Watertown Police Dept. is Fighting Rising Crime Rate with a Smaller Force on the watertown.patch.com website. After I read the article I wish Charlie Breitrose, the reporter for the Watertown Patch had pushed Chief Deveau further to … Continue reading
Posted in Municipalities, Police, Watertown
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Where does the data at www.nearbyfyi.com come from?
A friend asked me this question in a private email. Here is my response: Hi Phil, This is long so short answers first: Data comes from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education [1], the MA Department of Revenue [2] … Continue reading
Posted in FOIA, Government, Municipalities, Watertown
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Should our school system get more money, where will it go and how will it benefit our students?
Hi, This spring rumors about the impending collapse of our Watertown Massachusetts school budget were being circulated among parents, newspapers and community members. As a parent I became alarmed about the possibilities and have been spending the past several months … Continue reading
Posted in Budget, Fire, FOIA, Government, Healthcare, Municipalities, Pensions, Police, Schools, Uncategorized, Visualizations, Watertown
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