OPA Data Liberator: the hackathon project that fills in where city property records leave off [VIDEO]

Hackathon team OPA Data Liberator

Coders and journalists need to hang out more. It’s becoming something of a mission here at Technically Philly.

On Saturday, at the Open Gov Hackathon presented by Tropo, as a part of the third annual BarCamp NewsInnovation, former Inquirer City Hall reporter and current freelancer Patrick Kerkstra walked into the TV Studio at Temple University’s Annenberg Hall.

In the chilly, cement-floored room, Kerkstra presented a simple problem to a handful of developers there early for the hackathon. On the website of the city’s Office of Property Assessment (the reconstituted Board of Revision of Taxes), the search function is limited to specific address and doesn’t extend to names.

So, say, a small-time property developer wanted neighborhood approval for a zoning variance at a newly purchased property. Until Kerkstra inspired a pack of hackers, there was no easy, online way for concerned neighbors to find out other properties that property developer owned.

Now there is. Visit the OPA Data Liberator.

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Rich Negrin: City Managing Director running 311, PhillyStat and city IT on the future of Philly open gov

Deputy Mayor Richard Negrin during a meeting with the Mayor ahead of a November 2010 appearance on NBC's Meet The Press. Photograph by Mitchell Leff.

Rich Negrin promised no football analogies. Except this one.

“You have to get the blocking and tackling right before you do the double reverse flea flicker Hail Mary pass,” says Mayor Nutter’s Managing Director Negrin, who played a season in the NFL after a storied Division III football career. “So you got to start with the basics and make sure we’re doing it well.”

In that moment, Negrin, who became managing director in June 2010 after a stint leading the shake up of the city’s Board of Revision of Taxes, was speaking about the future of releasing city data, but the concern lies across much of his responsibility.

Negrin has a big 14th floor office in the Municipal Services Building at 15th and JFK, decorated warmly and personally, including a framed program from the Cleveland Browns with Negrin in the depth chart, alongside a young Vinny Testaverde and Marty Schottenheimer.

He is in that class of hulking big men who has a forcible nature when speaking softly. His default expression seems to be of seriousness, but he has a warm practiced smile.

In addition to his role as Managing Director, he is the Deputy Mayor for Administration and Coordination, which puts him directly in charge of just about every good government and technology issue under the sun: the Dept. of Technology, Philly 311, PhillyStat performance management, contract Procurement and the like. [Download a city government organizational leadership chart here PDF]

Below, Negrin talks to Technically Philly about those good government issues, the future of open data and, yes, he testifies that Michael Nutter is really tweeting on his own.

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