Unclear on the concept
Wednesday, Sep 7, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Susana Mendoza personally pitched me this story during the Illinois State Fair. I told her that she was misinformed…
“I’m here to announce our office’s newest initiative. It’s called Open Book,” [Comptroller Leslie Munger] said at a news conference on July 20 in Peoria. “It is a searchable database that allows you to compare state contracts with campaign donations.”
Not only does Munger’s program have the same name and website address as [former Comptroller Dan Hynes’] virtually identical effort. Like Hynes, she also used the same “follow the money” catchphrase.
“#OpenBook is a one-of-a-kind transparency initiative developed in-house by my office. #FollowTheMoney,” @Leslie MungerIL tweeted. “Hold elected leaders & those running for office accountable with our new transparency tool.” […]
Munger’s Democratic challenger in the November election, Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza, said, “It’s amazing to me that she would have the audacity to steal her predecessor’s award-winning initiative — a good-government initiative, ironically — and claim it as her own.”
* The reason I knew Mendoza was wrong is because the manager of this project was my former intern Barton Lorimor. We didn’t talk much about it, but I knew enough about all the hours he was putting in and the complicated stuff he was doing to realize this was more than a simple cosmetic upgrade. This was essentially a complete rebuild.
Every line of code on the site has been changed. They also added new algorithms, new search functions and improved the user interface. It’s like saying a 1932 Cadillac is essentially the same as a 2016 Cadillac. The name’s the same, and there’s still a steering wheel and four tires, but the technology is radically different. It’s not “virtually identical.”
* More detailed examples from the comptroller’s office…
· We switched from using modules to responsive data tables. Before July, every search result was displayed in these floating boxes, which took up a lot of space if you searched for a vendor that has dozens of contracts. Responsive tables are cleaner, display more information, and they auto-adjust to the user’s screen’s dimensions.
· You can search by contributors and receiving political committees now, too. Previously you could only search by the contract’s vendor name (and that name had to be as it appeared on the contract or else the records were not displayed). Old OpenBook also wasn’t displaying some of the State Board’s data even if the records matched the search criteria. It does now thanks to all new SQL code.
· OpenBook ties directly into the contract database on Ledger. Obviously you could not do something like that before because Ledger is fairly new itself.
· Search results can be filtered by vendor name, the donor’s name, the donor’s employer (when provided), recipient name, dollar amounts, date, and a contract’s awarding agency. You can order them in alphabetical, numerical, ascending, and descending orders. You can even download all of this into a PDF or CSV file. None of that was available beforehand.
- menDOH!za? - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 10:25 am:
Her campaign saw an opportunity and jumped without knowing where they would fall. And now they are here. Ouch.
Check yourself before you wreck yourself.
- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 10:25 am:
The ideas are the same. Would Munger, if the CEO of Apple, claim that the new iPhone is something that would allow someone to phone wirelessly for the first time?
The entire site might be new. but what it does isn’t. Munger needs to acknowledge that.
As a programmer I wouldn’t let Munger get away with her claims.
- OneMan - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 10:26 am:
You had me at…
It does now thanks to all new SQL code.
Applications and front ends come and go, but data lives forever.
- Um, ok - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 10:26 am:
It’s a substantial upgrade to an old, existing platform. Props to her for investing in the upgrade/modernization, but it’s dishonest to present it as a new initiative. It’s not.
- Just Me - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 10:33 am:
If Mendoza can’t complain about the work, she will complain about the work’s branding.
Mendoza would impress me more if she would tell me what she would do differently, but issues don’t matter in this campaign.
Rich is disgusted with our U.S. Senate race, I’m disgusted by our Comptroller race, if for no other reason then because we have one.
- OneMan - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 10:36 am:
Guess it is a perspective thing, I worked for a software company for almost 8 years. If you work for a white shoe firm in Chicago odds are you are using the software (and likely don’t even know it).
It may have had the same name over the versions, but man was it different software when I left vs when I started. It’s a bit like a car, Ford had had the Taurus for a long time, but it is very different car today than when it first came out, even if the name is the same and it still has 4 wheels.
- Anon - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 10:45 am:
It is an upgrade but not a new idea, the announcement even calls it “It is a searchable database that allows you to compare state contracts with campaign donations.” which is the same as the old database.
“#OpenBook is a one-of-a-kind transparency initiative developed in-house by my office.”, unless you count the initiative it upgraded.
I give them credit for the upgrade but it isn’t a totally new idea.
- Publius - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 10:50 am:
Rich
You wouldn’t say your created a new car called a Cadillac though
You would say you improved the Cadillac. Munger gave the impression this was her idea when all she did was improve a good idea
- Just Me - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 10:53 am:
Publius — then I guess there is no need to have an annual car show, eh? Its just the same car every year, isn’t it?
Or I guess Apple doesn’t need to bother doing a worldwide press conference to announce updates to the iPhone, huh? It’s still just an iPhone, right?
- Will Polk - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:02 am:
*Me buying a 2016 Cadillac to replace my 1995 Cadillac*
Neighbor - “You got a new car!”
Me - “No, no. Of course not. I merely updated my old car.”
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:04 am:
To the Post,
===It’s like saying a 1932 Cadillac is essentially the same as a 2016 Cadillac. The name’s the same, and there’s still a steering wheel and four tires, but the technology is radically different. It’s not “virtually identical.”===
Hearing more and more about the hours and work put in by the Munger Staff… and Barton Lorimor,… in the very least, it’s disingenuous by the Mendoza Crew to look at what this rollout is/was and dismiss the hours and the technology that needed to make this website possible.
It’s actually lazy to the understanding of both the office and the technology.
If I was an enterprising sort, I’d ask Mendoza the virtual similarities that exist in technology in both sites, since Mendoza wants to come off wonky on the governmental and the computer science aspect of her… claim.
Nothing is worse than trying to seem tech savvy and looking like you’re technically challenged in understanding technology.
- Shytown - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:05 am:
Just Me - the problem is Munger didn’t do a press conf to announce “improvements”. She did a presser announcing a new initiative, which it’s not. Big difference there.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:08 am:
To the people who continue to harp on tiresome semantics, I give you this…
===The 2017 Cadillac product refinements follow and complement Cadillac’s product expansion, which debuted with the all-new Cadillac CT6 prestige sedan and the all-new Cadillac XT5 luxury crossover.===
http://media.cadillac.com/media/us/en/cadillac/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2016/jun/0629-ats-cts.html
- NorthsideNoMore - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:09 am:
All political rhetoric and bloviating (on both sides) With a little searching and connecting the dots one can follow the trail… where is Al Gore when we need that dang internet thingy.
- Publius - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:10 am:
munger gave the impression that she invented the database to take credit for the good idea.
At the car show in 2017 Cadillac does not take credit inventing the automobile
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:13 am:
===munger gave the impression that she invented the database to take credit for the good idea===
lol
They apparently kept the name because of existing branding.
So, put away your hyper partisanship for a moment. Thanks. Munger will be back in the barrel soon.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:14 am:
Rich:
I get what you are saying. But the fact of the matter is that the concept is not new. She didn’t invent the concept. She just made it better. To argue that it’s somehow a brand new thing is completely ridiculous.
- Arsenal - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:23 am:
““#OpenBook is a one-of-a-kind transparency initiative developed in-house by my office. ”
Well, two-of-a-kind, I guess.
Look, I get that the technical side of this was a heavy lift, but Munger ain’t selling it on the lines of code (and she shouldn’t, because who cares?), she’s selling it on the front end user experience. So the question is, how similar is that to what Hynes had (I never played around on his site)?
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:34 am:
===So the question is, how similar is that to what Hynes had===
Model T vs. Mustang.
- Just Observing - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:45 am:
Still not buying what Munger is selling. Perhaps a significant tech upgrade, but not a new concept as Munger was hoping the media and people to believe. It’s not like saying a 2016 Cadillac is like a 1932 Cadillac — it’s like saying she invented something called a horseless carriage instead of saying she simply improved upon the horseless carriage.
- STI - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:50 am:
“Every line of code on the site has been changed.”
And how much of that code did Comptroller Munger write?
The concept is Dan Hynes’. It was not her concept. It was wrong for her to take credit for it.
Susana Mendoza was right to call her on it.
To your analogy; it’s like suggesting they redesign the Cadillac for 2016, and then saying, “Look at me, I invented the car!”
- Skeptic - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:50 am:
“all new SQL code.” Let’s hope they paid attention to SQL injection attacks…
- Shytown - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:52 am:
Oswego Willy - perhaps what’s worse is trying to claim someone isn’t tech savvy by ignoring the fact they led what’s perhaps the most technically innovative city government overhaul of program that was once the bane of existence for millions of Chicagoans year after year - the city sicker program is now generating tens of millions in new revenue for the city without increasing fees. Better customer service, more revenue, real innovation. I’ll compare Mendoza’s tech and innovation record to Munger’s any day.
- NoGifts - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:59 am:
This different perspective is always the case between management and IT when you’re talking about a system. To management, it’s the same thing because it does essentially the same thing. To the developers, it’s a different system because it does it much better and uses different code!
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 11:59 am:
- Shytown -
Due in large part of me staying on the specifics of what Mendoza is claiming here with Open Books, a pivoting off a “lack of understanding” (at best), then “showing” a technically savvy office initiative kinda-sorta shows the Mendoza claims are disingenuous…
See how that works? You want to show savvy-ness, then Mendoza is disingenuous. You find a lack of tech understanding, it shows a partisan framing based on a lack of knowledge.
Mendoza’s Crew can choose which they’d prefer.
- Bluegrass Boy - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 12:04 pm:
Thank you for the “Cadillac” analogies and comments. My eyes are glazing over with the technical details required to explain the facts.
- The Captain - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 12:41 pm:
This whole thing feels like a minor semantics argument that I don’t have strong feelings on either way, however I follow Dan Mihalopoulos on Twitter (this is his story) and with all the breathless tweets on this you’d think he just broke the Watergate story. Total overkill.
- northsider (the original) - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 12:50 pm:
Cadillac can introduce a new Cadillac. Lincoln cannot make changes to the body and transmission and introduce it as a new Cadillac. It isn’t Lincoln’s idea.
Apple can introduce a new iPhone. Android cannot introduce a new iPhone. Android cannot update an iPhone–either a little or a lot– and then claim it invented the iphone.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 12:56 pm:
Well the Mendoza crew got Dan Milhouplois to do a hit on Munger in today’s Sun Times . It dosent report any of the in depth facts you do Rich . Nice job on keeping the facts correct and not getting played by Mendoza crew
- NoGifts - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 12:58 pm:
Is windows 10 an updated windows 2.0, or is it a new thing? I don’t think the auto analogy is appropriate.
- HynesGuy - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 1:19 pm:
Sheesh! Maybe Mendoza can counter by launching “The Rainy Day Fund” initiative.
- Shytown - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 1:27 pm:
Oswego Willy - pardon me as perhaps I am neither technically nor semantically sappy, but I don’t follow your logic at all.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 1:36 pm:
- Shytown -
===You want to show savvy-ness, then Mendoza is disingenuous.===
You want to show Mendoza’s city sticker technology, then her apparent tech-savvy ways can see the changes, so it’s disingenuous to say they don’t exist.
===You find a lack of tech understanding, it shows a partisan framing based on a lack of knowledge.===
If Mendoza just plum lacks all technical savvy, including her own office’s, that’s on her and her Crew too
===Mendoza’s Crew can choose which they’d prefer.===
If Mendoza’s Crew is unclear on any of all of these concepts… I can’t help them, but pointing out tech improvements to her office isn’t helping the Mendoza Crew’s arguments.
- DuPage - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 1:49 pm:
Dear Ms. Munger,
You spent state money on this when you can’t pay overdue money the state owes? When there was already a program in place? “In-house” is not the same as “at no cost”, and it sounds as if you used a lot of I.T. man-hours of state employees. Could you show us how much this cost?
- Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 2:22 pm:
One more try with the Cadillacs.
The “all-new CT6″ is in fact all new from the ground up. It’s a large rear-drive sedan presented as a credible ‘Murican alternative to the big Audis, Bimmers, and Mercedes. (As an aside, it has an optional 34-speaker audio system that is fabulous.)
Alternatively, the “all-new XT5″ is a front-wheel or all-wheel-drive crossover/SUV with quite a lot of bits and pieces carried over from the old model SRX. The differences are more apparent once one gets in the car, sees the new interior, and enjoys the improved ride and handling. It may not look “all-new” from the curb, but that’s it.
Seems to me that the Comptroller and her crew built an XT5 of applications; the changes can’t be appreciated until one takes it for a test drive. Driven or not, there is no doubt the product is still a Cadillac. They correctly assessed that a “ground-up” or CT6-type new app was not necessary and saved us all a nice chunk of change.
Good job, Barton!
- Shytown - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 3:42 pm:
Oswego Willy - once again, your argument just doesn’t add up…just like Munger’s math.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 3:46 pm:
- Shytown -
It’s clear.
Unless you have something to try to refute what I’m clearly saying… troll someone else.
Thanks.
- Fusion - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 4:00 pm:
Apple unveiled the new iPhone 7 today. I look forward to Mendoza’s critique on whether it’s “new” or just an “update” to the 6s.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 4:05 pm:
===It’s hard to refute something that doesn’t make sense.===
I refuted your point. You have nothing to counter. That’s why you’re trolling.
Anyone can say “that makes no sense”.
I have no clue what doesn’t make sense to you, lol
If you say “everything”, does that include the English language?
Do better.
- Fusion - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 4:19 pm:
Fiscal offices are hard to campaign for, because the issues are never sexy and exciting. So, the candidates — especially the challenger — are left with goofy stuff like this mess.
I imagine upon reading this, the Munger camp yawned and is getting ready to unload the pallets full of cash from Bruce’s Brinks Money Truck which will show up at her campaign office any minute now.
- Shytown - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 4:42 pm:
Oswego Willy - hmm, who’s trolling who now? I think it’s more a matter of you simply wanting to have the last word. So if it makes you feel better, it’s all yours. Go for it!
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 4:45 pm:
- Shytown -
“Good Luck”
- What's the Fuss - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 5:46 pm:
There are two completely separate ideas going on here. The first is a completely new website that provides pertinent information to the public. The second is a concept and brand. Leslie Munger completely deserves all the credit for the first idea. However, She cannot claim credit for the second.
Comparing cars and iPhones to elaborate on this issue seems to me to be just partisan bickering. I think Rich was right to reject the Mendoza pitch, but only because who cares?
- Timmeh - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 7:31 pm:
What Rich/Barton added to the story is what Munger should be saying. I don’t agree that her tweet and quote match that.
“I’m here to announce our office’s newest initiative.” isn’t right. It isn’t a new initiative. It’s the same project that Hynes started. Firefox or Wikimedia is the closest comparison I can draw. They’ve been completely overhauled before, but they’re still the same project with more tech and different code. So is Open Books. Given how fast computer technology has changed, a rewrite should have been expected. Expect another rewrite will be needed in the next 10 years too.
- P. - Wednesday, Sep 7, 16 @ 7:33 pm:
Pretty clear they botched the rollout and messed up by not bothering to even change the name a little bit. Any elected would get dinged for that. That kind of poor judgement counts for something.