Daniel Bevarly

Thomas – I read a recent article posted on American City & County mag’s web site about cities that are using photo archives for civic engagement. Perhaps they have policies related to sharing photos as well. The link is in my tweet:
Can #digital #history projects kindle community engagement? tinyurl.com/o45h2by via @AmerCityCounty

“…completely different set of motivations and skills required for the two different activities.”
Henry, I’d love to hear more of your thinking on this statement. Could you describe a situation or give an example? Thanks.

Henry – Thanks for joining in. Yes. The poll is pretty “fresh” I’d like to hear from more folks. Let me clarify that the items on the poll are to represent civic involvement (or not, based on your opinion), not political involvement –while some clearly are.
My premise with the post is that Pew (and others) appear to use political involvement and…[Read more]

Thanks for the comment Mark. I like how you italicized ought. Public participation, formal or informal, is about volunteering; whether it be your time, your ideas or your person. Good analogy as well.

Zealots often carry the day. – Bobby Ray Inman

I would not be as concerned with the site being externally hosted as I would be with the structure of that site to mirror or replicate traditional public communication and data transmit or exchange. Government should be working with any third party provider of its online relations with the public to ensure such structure, processes and policies…[Read more]

Emily – Pew found that newspapers are still the primary information source for adult Americans. This may provide additional insight into your question. I pulled this content from a blog post of mine: “Why it’s important to know how people learn about their community.”
Did you know that local TV news is still the most popular source for local…[Read more]

Deb – I overlooked that crucial challenge –self preservation. Indeed your department should be lobbying hard directly and indirectly among the elected officials who mush appreciate your work and the agency directors who should be advocates for your department based on your service to them and their agencies.

As a former communications director for a municipal government, I believe I may have some experience to contribute to your questions?
You ask a variety of questions related to processes and policy. First, I never subscribed to the communications department officially as a “public relations” department. While this is indeed an accurate description…[Read more]

The quality of government reflects the quality of the citizenry and vice versa. If there is a well-connected and engaged relationship between citizens and their government, then the civic infrastructure will be sound and representative democracy will truly be represented. However, when 10-20% of the public speak for the majority, then that…[Read more]