Transparency and Accountability in Southern California

I've been on the phone for over an hour now. I am searching for current and upcoming Stimulus Funded projects in Santa Barbara.
A list of calls:
Main City Phone, (805) 963-0611
"Hi my name is Noah and I'm interested in knowing what current and upcoming Stimulus Funded projects are happening in Santa Barbara. Is there a list or a person I should talk to?"

"You should talk to Public Works or the City Administrators office. Call them, start with public works."

Public Works: (805) 564-5377

repeat of same statement, with "City operator directed me here."

"Oh, I'll transfer you through to engineering"
"Ok"

"Engineering, hello?"

repeat stock statement, etc

"Oh, I don't know who you should talk to, maybe City Administrators office"

"Oh, ok"
I call the City Admin's office, (repeat of question)

"Oh, you know what, I think you should talk to Don in Public Works"

I just talked to Public works, but she kindly puts me through. It's not that they are not trying to be helpful, but wher is the info? I mean, how hard is it that the information is easily available? Transparency? Not for lack of trying, but it's not as clear as glass.

She transfers me to Don, who needs to look into who might know, and passes me back to the city operator, who passes me onto the planning and zoning office, where I leave a message.

Still don't know what is happening in Santa Barbara.

Transparency and Accountability score,

0 for 0

Searching for the American Dream

How do we create a forum for the collective story gathering of the stimulus? A truly democratic, user run "Transparency and Accountability"? Searching for social forums to create this process, I stumble onto this video from Core77, yes, it's about design, and it is also a great introduction to the power of iconography, and hence, the power of the shovel.

Steven Heller lecture from Fabrica on Vimeo.

How will the Stimulus Shovel hit the streets?

How does an unknown artist bring out a simple idea to serve the rebuilding, replanting and reawakening of America?
I ask every single person I know, what they know. I've asked congress people. I've asked community arts council members. I've asked my next door neighbor. It may be silly, and perhaps I'm a fool, but I know that we need symbols to focus our energy. We need ceremony to guide our intention. We need to share something on a large scale to make large-scale changes. And while the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as in "The Stimulus Plan", is pretty confusing, and definitely hard to track, a shovel is something we can all get our hands on.
I don't know if you've checked out recovery.gov, but I feel like I should have taken statistics and majored in Economics to understand what's happening on that site. Not that they aren't trying. The pie charts are very pretty. But I need to see people's faces. I need to hear their stories. I need to know what's happening in my community, not with a spreadsheet, but with a picture of a place I recognize. Most of all, I just want to know what's going on, and if I know that ordinary Americans, me and you, some of us, are getting jobs, are being employed, are able to feed ourselves and our families, then I'm all for it. And if not-- then I'm straight pissed off.