A Couple of Good Local Government Approaches to Transparency and Citizen Feedback

The Internet provides all sorts of opportunities for both transparency
and citizen feedback. One way, which <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/453&quot; target="”_blank”">I pointed out recently</a>,
is for local government officials to have blogs that allow them to
present their news and views, and allow citizens to respond and ask
questions.<br>
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Two other approaches have just been taken by towns near where I live.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/464">Click here to read the rest of this blog entry.</a>
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To get feedback, one town surveyed its citizens. This was done both on
paper and <a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=6P2UClAEgS_2b50ZyBo7aYzg_3d_3d&qu…; target="”_blank”">online,
by East Haven, CT</a>. Surveys were included with property tax bills, a
gutsy time to ask, since no one likes to get a tax bill. Unfortunately,
the questionnaire does not go beyond the level of "Am I doing a good
job?" For those interested in doing more useful online surveys, check
out <a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com&quot; target="”_blank”">surveymonkey.com</a>, which
is the survey software that East Haven used.<br>
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To provide transparency, another town, Derby, started <a href="http://electronicvalley.org/derby/GOVERN/askcityhall.htm&quot; target="”_blank”">an
online question-and-answer session</a>, Ask City Hall. What's
especially good about this approach is that various officials answer
the various questions. It's not an ego trip, all about the mayor or
city manager. It seems to be a sincere way of answering individuals'
questions so that everyone can profit. Not only does this provide
transparency, but it also increases efficiency by making it less likely
that people will keep calling with the same question.<br>
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Right now, there are few and varied questions. Soon, I hope that
Derby's government will organize the questions and answers by topic or
department, with a search mechanism, so that people can find them
easily.<br>
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Note that Derby's website is part of a regional website, <a href="http://electronicvalley.org/&quot; target="”_blank”">Electronic Valley</a> (the
Naugatuck River Valley), making a good website more affordable to the seven
towns. Another good idea.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
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