Pittstown Scores Zero on Government Transparency Index

A page on Dyntra.org, operated in collaboration with the advocacy group Reclaim New York, offers a sobering assessment of the Town of Pittstown's online transparency — or rather, its near-total absence of it.

The page is part of a broader project that evaluates New York State government entities against a Public Organization Index (POI), measuring how well local governments publish information online across seven key categories. Pittstown scored 0 out of 29 published indicators — meaning that at the time of evaluation, none of the benchmarks were found to be met. dyntra

The categories assessed are revealing in themselves. They include Contracts, Access to Information, Participation and Collaboration, Municipal Transparency, Financial Transparency, Elected Official Info Online, and Permits and Forms Online. Specific indicators within these categories range from publishing meeting minutes and budget documents online, to posting FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) request procedures, ethics guidelines, building permits, and zoning applications.

At the time of the evaluation, the town's supervisor was listed as Verna Hansen, with the town's address at 97 Tomhannock Road, Valley Falls, NY, and a contact phone number of (518) 753-4222. dyntra

A zero score does not necessarily mean Pittstown is failing its residents in practice — much local government business in small towns is conducted in person or via phone — but it does suggest that the town's digital presence left considerable room for improvement when this evaluation was carried out. For residents seeking records or information, the path to access would have run through direct contact with the town rather than through any online portal.