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Dear Lucas,
I write today to share news of a unique and innovative new project from Citizens Union Foundation.
Today Gotham Gazette launches Councilpedia, a one of a kind tool that brings together in a single place New York City elected officials' campaign contributions and expenditures, and then allows readers to contribute their knowledge about the possible connections between the cash flow and political decision making.
With Councilpedia you are able to get the big picture of the connection between money and politics in New York City government. Councilpedia includes data for every member of the New York City Council, the public advocate and the city comptroller, listing all campaign contributors, categorized by sector and type, for the 2009 campaign cycle and the beginning of the 2013 campaign cycle. Readers can search by contributions from specific industries or interest groups, contributors that are doing business with the city, are outside of the city and much more. Along with this, Councilpedia lists campaign expenditures and provides council members' sponsored legislation and member items.
There is no other site anywhere on the web that aggregates political contributions and other data in a single place with this kind of versatility and detail. And Councilpedia is also a crowd-sourced wiki, allowing readers to share information and connect any possible dots between donors, the campaigns to which they contribute, and a related action taken by a New York City elected official.
Councilpedia, winner of a Knight News Challenge Grant , builds on Gotham Gazette's coverage of New York City politics and government. In its watchdog role, Citizens Union always tries to shed light behind the scenes and point out connections where they exist. Now, for the first time, we're directly involving you in helping us fulfill this mission.We make all this information available on one site and then you help us define the nature of the connections between money and politics in New York City, if and where they exist.
The more people that use this site, the more important a resource for the public record it will become and, we hope, the more robust debate, and perhaps needed scrutiny, it will generate on this important and timely issue.
Take a look for yourself at www.gothamgazette.com/councilpedia.
Sincerely,
Dick Dadey
Executive Director | 
