Policy Order O-4

WHEREAS: The City of Cambridge, in all departments and facets, has a long history of championing transparency, accessibility and responsiveness in aspiration of good governance; and

WHEREAS: In that spirit, the City of Cambridge should always aim to improve civic participation through access to information and a continued dialog with the public sector; and

WHEREAS: It has come to the attention of the Cambridge City Council that the District of Columbia has pioneered a new website that allows for residents to look up important tree information; and

WHEREAS: Said website,

WHEREAS: Over the last few years, the City of Cambridge has been steadfastly trying to develop a means to make our tree planting and removal policies more transparent but unfortunately there has been a lot of misinformation circulating; and

WHEREAS: Residents should be allowed access to the most up to date development plans for the City. Access to this information would allow them the ability to formulate more knowledgeable opinions on upcoming proposals; now therefore be it

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to direct the appropriate department heads to look into the feasibility of developing a similar website and report back to the City Council.