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Yes, this is a small operation, population wise and financially. The Brooks County most recent fiscal year budget has around $6M in revenue: https://www.co.broo

Yes, this is a small operation, population wise and financially. The Brooks County most recent fiscal year budget has around $6M in revenue: https://www.co.brooks.tx.us/upload/page/5141/docs/20210922120105985.pdf https://www.co.brooks.tx.us/upload/page/5141/docs/2021092212... Really the federal government should be publishing and distributing guidance to local governments about how to run IT. I am wondering about how the ransom payout is going to show up in next year's budget. "Miscellaneous"? Off topic, but there is a documentary about migration through Brooks County and the perils faced by people trying to migrate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_in_Brooks_County https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_in_Brooks_County

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anigbrowl 4y ago
While it might be politically unpalatable, it's appalling to me that there aren't any standards for government websites. With ~3000 counties and I don't know how many municipalities, trying to synthesize data between different local governments is a nightmare for journalists, citizens, legal actors, and who-all else. Political science types like to mention 'laboratories of democracy' with a misty-eyed gaze into the past, but frankly it's far more common to end up with meth labs of bad governance, and the idea that great software solutions for the public sector are going to bubble up of their own accord has been shown to be wrong. There needs to be a system that is open source, accessible, and standard enough that city managers have to come up with a decent excuse as to why they're not using it.
- trash_goblin 4y ago
- curiousgal 4y ago
  For a country that gave birth to nearly all of the technologies the world is using, seeing the U.S. response to covid in terms of vaccination proof was an absolute shock. My American friends were walking around Europe with a piece of paper saying they got vaccinated. So yeah if you guys can't get your shit together and create a centralized vaccination certification system amid a global pandemic, a standard website kit isn't happening either.
  - prpl 4y ago
    You think that’s bad, wait until you hear about our federal identification system… I think people from other countries don’t understand that Americans don’t want (federal) government knowing anything about them besides taxes. There’s a whole bunch of reasons why, but for the most part it boils down to various forms of liberty - and tales of the mark of the beast. … but it’s usually fine when your state or a corporation is doing it.
    - naturalauction 4y ago
      The uk (at least at the moment) has no federal ID card a bit like the US. Much like in the US it’s a point of contention when voter ID requirements are being mooted. That being said they managed to roll out a vaccine passport pretty easily.
    - sofixa 4y ago
      > I think people from other countries don’t understand that Americans don’t want (federal) government knowing anything about them besides taxes I'm not American, I know that, have heard various reasons for it, and i consider it to be profoundly stupid. It might have made sense in the 19th century, but today? Your federal government already knows all there is to know about you. They can tap in healthcare, financial, state government information, all that online stuff. The cat is out of the bag, why not use it for something practical? A common unified ID which gives access to e-government services is the norm across the EU, and it's pretty cool and practical.
      - okr 4y ago
        I do not find it stupid at all. I would prefer to live a life without a government, that issues proof of identity for me. And rather have a working economy, where the problem of ID independent of government is solved. I know, it is convenient to have a single persona, that i can use everywhere and they are interoperable. But i AM. That is proof enough. It does not need a government for the proof of that, imho.
        4y ago
- aiisjustanif 4y ago
  Shameless plug of envy.[1] [1]: https://www.gov.uk/service-toolkit https://www.gov.uk/service-toolkit
sofixa 4y ago
> Really the federal government should be publishing and distributing guidance to local governments about how to run IT. Or even running the IT for them. Lots of smaller municipalities and counties, even with all the guidance on the world, wouldn't have the resources to properly manage everything. Not to mention what a colossal waste it is, financially or practically, for every single administrative entity to reinvent the wheel for each of their IT needs.
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deleted 4y ago

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anigbrowl 4y ago

While it might be politically unpalatable, it's appalling to me that there aren't any standards for government websites. With ~3000 counties and I don't know how many municipalities, trying to synthesize data between different local governments is a nightmare for journalists, citizens, legal actors, and who-all else. Political science types like to mention 'laboratories of democracy' with a misty-eyed gaze into the past, but frankly it's far more common to end up with meth labs of bad governance, and the idea that great software solutions for the public sector are going to bubble up of their own accord has been shown to be wrong. There needs to be a system that is open source, accessible, and standard enough that city managers have to come up with a decent excuse as to why they're not using it.

trash_goblin 4y ago
curiousgal 4y ago
For a country that gave birth to nearly all of the technologies the world is using, seeing the U.S. response to covid in terms of vaccination proof was an absolute shock. My American friends were walking around Europe with a piece of paper saying they got vaccinated. So yeah if you guys can't get your shit together and create a centralized vaccination certification system amid a global pandemic, a standard website kit isn't happening either.
- prpl 4y ago
  You think that’s bad, wait until you hear about our federal identification system… I think people from other countries don’t understand that Americans don’t want (federal) government knowing anything about them besides taxes. There’s a whole bunch of reasons why, but for the most part it boils down to various forms of liberty - and tales of the mark of the beast. … but it’s usually fine when your state or a corporation is doing it.
  - naturalauction 4y ago
    The uk (at least at the moment) has no federal ID card a bit like the US. Much like in the US it’s a point of contention when voter ID requirements are being mooted. That being said they managed to roll out a vaccine passport pretty easily.
  - sofixa 4y ago
    > I think people from other countries don’t understand that Americans don’t want (federal) government knowing anything about them besides taxes I'm not American, I know that, have heard various reasons for it, and i consider it to be profoundly stupid. It might have made sense in the 19th century, but today? Your federal government already knows all there is to know about you. They can tap in healthcare, financial, state government information, all that online stuff. The cat is out of the bag, why not use it for something practical? A common unified ID which gives access to e-government services is the norm across the EU, and it's pretty cool and practical.
    - okr 4y ago
      I do not find it stupid at all. I would prefer to live a life without a government, that issues proof of identity for me. And rather have a working economy, where the problem of ID independent of government is solved. I know, it is convenient to have a single persona, that i can use everywhere and they are interoperable. But i AM. That is proof enough. It does not need a government for the proof of that, imho.
      - 4y ago
aiisjustanif 4y ago
Shameless plug of envy.[1] [1]: https://www.gov.uk/service-toolkit https://www.gov.uk/service-toolkit

sofixa 4y ago

> Really the federal government should be publishing and distributing guidance to local governments about how to run IT. Or even running the IT for them. Lots of smaller municipalities and counties, even with all the guidance on the world, wouldn't have the resources to properly manage everything. Not to mention what a colossal waste it is, financially or practically, for every single administrative entity to reinvent the wheel for each of their IT needs.

deleted 4y ago

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