Anyone who’s tried to use the City of Oakland’s website knows it’s something like this clip from 1986’s Labyrinth, in which Jennifer Connelly seeks answers from a senile Muppet who speaks entirely in ridiculous platitudes and non sequiturs: The search function is basically useless and information isn’t organized intuitively for layfolk.
Enter Oakland Answers, a new website dedicated to answering citizen’s questions about city services. It’s the latest collaboration between the city and OpenOakland, a team of civic-minded hackers associated with Code for America — the same people who helped launch the city’s open data website.