A group of citizen journalists in the Cleveland metro, so outraged by corruption within their local government, have taken matters into their own hands. Working in conjunction with local investigative journalism efforts, they’ve launched Map the Mess, a grassroots effort to shed light on the workings of business and government in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. They use social networking maps to reveal connections in government and to illustrations of how public officials conduct business in the county. They hope that the site provides enough transparency to the local government as to change the pattern of “patronage and privilege that frustrates reform and productivity.” Here’s an example of a map the folks at MtM created showing the various connections of local officials.

The site includes forums that explore such topics as the hidden connections that drive major public projects, rumors spawned by press coverage of local controversies, and isolated facts that might fit into a larger story or pattern.

This is really neat. I imagine we’ll see more local transparency groups like MtM across the country.

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Every week I climb into the depths of the local political blogosphere to find the Sunlight. I use this series to highlight local blogs that do a great job of covering local, state, and Congressional political news. This week I have highlights from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Texas.

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Every week I climb into the depths of the local political blogosphere to find the Sunlight. I use this series to highlight local blogs that do a great job of covering local, state, and Congressional political news. This week I have highlights from Ohio, South Carolina, Michigan, Missouri, and New Jersey.

In Ohio, the Buckeye State Blog asked what the motivation could be behind Rep. Jean Schmidt’s $100,000 earmark to the John P. Parker Historical Society. It seems they should head over to Earmarkwatch.org and do some investigating.

In South Carolina, SC6 analyses House Bill 2693, Popcorn Lung Bill. While his analysis is interesting, what I find more important is that he is taking the time to look at some of the bills Congress spends time on and evaluating their importance and the motivation behind them in a public place.

In Missouri, The Turner Report wrote a great post about state senators receiving gifts from lobbyists. The report examines documents from the Missouri Ethics Commission to find out what gifts state senators received from lobbyists.

Politics NJ questioned why Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli went on vacation with state Senator Joseph Coniglio even though the senator is a target of a federal criminal probe. I’m pretty sure there is a conflict of interest somewhere in there.

In Michigan, Media Mouse has been monitoring military contracts and they have a great list of contracts awarded to local companies in west Michigan.

I would like to also point out David Weller’s blog Allthingsreform.org which covers reform activism and government ethics.

That’s all I have for this week. If you have any tips for me feel free to contact me here.

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Ohio Republican Fundraiser Tom Noe was indicted on 14 felony counts, according to the Toledo Blade. Noe, who was tapped to invest state funds in rare coins, is being charged with “22 counts of forgery, 11 counts of money laundering, eight counts of tampering with records, six counts of aggravated theft, five counts of grand theft, and one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity under the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) act.” Noe has already been indicted three felonies for laundering $40,000 to President Bush’s campaign.

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