2 put Toledo's budget on Net

A candidate for Toledo City Council and a sitting member of council have teamed up to put the city's 2007 budget on the Internet.

Ed Cichy, a Democratic candidate for council District 2, said his campaign team was able to load the 322-page budget document on his Web site, EdForCouncil.com, in a matter of minutes.

City council members have increasingly urged the administration to post more information about the city budget on the city's Web site.

Councilman Joe McNamara, who is backing Mr. Cichy's run for office, said he obtained the electronic version of the budget from the city and gave it to Mr. Cichy to post online.

He noted that the city's financial statement for the year 2005 is available on the city's Web page. That document is 198 pages.

In addition, Mr. McNamara said he plans to propose an amendment to the city charter that would require the mayor to post an electronic copy of the budget online.

"The city of Toledo is woefully behind when it comes to applying modern-day technology to the budgeting process," Mr. McNamara said. "I have been repeatedly told by the administration that electronic documents cannot be posted to the city of Toledo's Web site."

Brian Schwartz, a spokesman for Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, said the city budget is more than the city's Web site can handle at present.

"It'd be neat to have the ability to do that, and we will eventually," he said.

Mr. Cichy said putting the budget online gives citizens a greater ability to participate in the annual budget process.