Medford committee approves newsletter, begins work on open data policy and sends questions to mayor and departments

The Medford City Council Resident Services and Public Engagement Committee on Jan. 29 approved distribution of its monthly newsletter and began formal work to develop an open data policy, voting to send a set of questions to the mayor and city department heads to gauge data holdings, legal concerns and staff capacity.

The vote to distribute the newsletter passed on a roll call with four in favor and one member absent. Committee members then discussed sample open-data language from the cities of Cambridge (sample ordinance) and Boston (executive order) and agreed to request information from several departments before drafting a local policy.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to approve and distribute the current draft of the committee newsletter, including edits by Councilor Callahan (mover) and seconded by Councilor Singh. Roll call: Callahan — yes; Lazaro — yes; Scarpelli — absent; Singh — yes; Chair Lemming — yes. Outcome: approved (4 yes, 1 absent).

- Motion to send the committee's list of questions about data holdings, legal/ethical concerns and staff capacity to the mayor and relevant department heads (mover: Councilor Singh; second: Councilor Lazaro). Committee amended procedure to deliver the request to the mayor/chief of staff first. Roll call: Callahan — yes; Lazaro — yes; Scarpelli — absent; Singh — yes; Chair Lemming…