The Basics
Accurate news articles, academic research, meeting agendas and related governmental websites can add context and background to your documentation.
Tips
- Start with an online search of keywords related to the department holding your meeting. Timely news articles about City Council can be searched with the appropriate search terms, for example, "Detroit City Council" AND the names of specific council members, i.e. "Councilman James Smith" OR a combination of topics related to your interest, i.e. "Alderman Joe Moore Chicago City Council participatory budgeting".
- Seek out primary sources and trusted news outlets for the most up-to-date and accurate information.
Checklist
- Find your municipality’s official website
- Use quote marks (“ “) to locate a specific phrase verbatim (i.e. “Mark Murray” voting history)
- Use the minus sign (-) to remove results from your search (i.e. “Philadelphia crime -violence”)
- Use CTRL +F to find a specific word or phrase on a webpage
- Use “wildcard search” characters like asterisks (*) and question marks (?) to widen your searches (i.e. search results for “educat*” will include educate, educated, education, educational or educator)
- Use multiple search engines
- Review quality news content related to your topic (quality news outlets will have a track record of excellence, and a quality story will often feature a byline, links to source materials, multiple sources and good spelling/grammar)
- Taking notes? Copy/paste or hyperlink relevant webpages for reference
Chicago
- Management system used by the City Clerk to post information about City Council members, committees, meetings and legislation status.
- Tip: Information on Legistar may appear on the website or in a PDF format. These versions are not necessarily exactly the same so it’s worth looking over both.
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Tip: if a meeting is scheduled but the agenda has not been posted yet, you can get a sense of what’s in the pipeline in the “Legislation” tab.
- “Current Controlling Legislative Body”: select the committee from the drop-down list
- “Status”: to see most of the relevant legislation, select “Introduced” (“Placed on File,” “Direct Introduction,” or “Re-referred” may also yield some results)
- Hit “Search Legislation.” It may take a few seconds to load.
- A more user-friendly rendering of information on Legistar by DataMade. “Chicago City Council, demystified.”
- Includes headshots of aldermen by committee!
- Helpful for understanding what City Council committees do and procedures they are required to follow.
- Published compilation of City laws and their revisions organized according to subject matter (arranged by title, chapter and section). The Municipal Code is updated periodically as new ordinances are adopted by the City Council.
- Database of city boards and commissions, members and how they are selected.
Cook County
- Database of Codes of Ordinances for Cook County and Forest Preserve
- Management system for Cook County public bodies, meetings and legislation status.
- Database of other county agencies.
State of Illinois
- A cluttered but comprehensive database of legislation from when it is introduced to if/when it is passed as law by the Illinois General Assembly.
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- Published compilation of legislation passed by the Illinois General Assembly.
- A state law intended to promote government transparency by requiring that public bodies conduct business and decision-making at meetings open and accessible to the public.
- See also: Ballotpedia explainer.
State of Illinois Appointments
- Database of state boards and commissions, their power and responsibilities, members and how they are selected.
Cleveland
- Management system used by Cleveland City Council to post information about City Council committees, meetings and legislation.
- Tip: Information on Legistar may appear on the website or in a PDF format. These versions are not necessarily exactly the same so it’s worth looking over both.
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Tip: if a meeting is scheduled but the agenda has not been posted yet, you can get a sense of what’s in the pipeline in the “Legislation” tab.
- Click the “Search Legislation” button. It may take a few seconds to load.
- Use this site to find information about council members with photos and bios.
- Under the “About City Council” section, find information about what City Council committees do and the procedures they are required to follow.
City of Cleveland Code of Ordinances
- Published compilation of City laws and their revisions organized according to subject matter (arranged by title, chapter and section). The Code of Ordinances is updated periodically as new ordinances are adopted by the City Council.
City Departments, Boards and Commissions
- Helpful to review for more information about specific departments, boards or commissions.
- Check out this .pdf showing how city departments and divisions are organized.
Cuyahoga County
- A list of the motions, resolutions and ordinances passed by the Cuyahoga County Council
Cuyahoga County Organizational Chart
- A pdf of departments, boards and commissions.
State of Ohio
- A database of legislation searchable by subject and when it was introduced to if/when it is passed as law by the Illinois General Assembly.
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Ohio Revised Code
- General laws of the state organized by title and chapter.
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A state law intended to promote government transparency by requiring that public bodies conduct business and decision-making at meetings open and accessible to the public.
- See also: Ballotpedia explainer.
State of Ohio Boards and Commissions
- A list of state boards and commissions with links to their websites for details on their power and responsibilities, members and how they are selected.