Hey there!! : )My name is Omar Shaikh Rashad and I'm a reporter most interested in the intersections of policing, courts, higher education and policy. I use data to understand how systems — and those in charge of them — create outcomes that everyday people grapple with.I am currently the government accountability reporter at Fresnoland, where I use data to report on public spending and local government in the greater Fresno area.In August 2023, I revealed how the City of Fresno's budget process may have violated a state law that requires local governments to be transparent with the public. From 2018 to 2023, the Fresno City Council's budget committee met annually with the mayor's administration in private meetings — closed to the public — to negotiate the budget.Three months after my investigation, the ACLU and First Amendment Coalition sued the City of Fresno, alleging the budget committee’s private meetings violated California's Brown Act for years. Additionally, two city councilmembers called for the budget committee to be made public.In February 2024, the Fresno City Council announced an end to its five-year practice of privately meeting over the city budget. The council also disbanded ten other committees that were meeting privately on a regular basis about everything from homelessness and housing to Measure P and lobbying.