Dropping the Technology Ball.
I have expressed some disappointment over the last couple of weeks over the formatting of the newly required “Citizen’s Input Question and Answer”. I felt that a real FAQ management tool would have been more appropriate. I submitted a proposal to install one. I also submitted a proposal to perform research and answer writing for the questions asked by citizens. Both of these options were turned down, in favor of a much simpler “news article” style question and answer for each week.
I didn’t feel that it accomplished everything that we could. I looked at it as a missed opportunity, but I was at least happy that the questions would receive answers.
This week, Mrs. Bertolini softened her requirement by only requiring three questions per week be answered. She made no requirement of which questions, so the Staff can now answer whatever questions they would like to answer, as long as they answer three questions. The Mayor and Richard Stevens voted against this. I feel that this is represents a total failure in improving communications.
The City has ample opportunity to answer the questions of residents. It even has residents interested in answering questions. The City has a real opportunity to harness the energy of people willing to work to improve it. Answers requiring longer research could be easily watched using software that is designed specifically for archiving questions and answers. If our city is going to grow together and grow responsibly, we need to stop running away from improvements and start embracing them.
