Do you Pinterest? Should candidates or electeds?

The White House just started a Pinterest account which you can see here. (Here's a primer on Pinterest.) And more and more, public servants and government entities are using Pinterest.

I started a Pinterest for a day job project I ran for about 16 months and I started a personal one to catalogue bucket list items and presents I could show my husband for Chanukah (yes, really - probably TMI there).

I'm kind of an early adopter of sorts and don't mind failing if something just isn't doing it for me. What do you think?

Pepper Pike website soft launch is here! Please check it out & offer input

Happy New Year!

As Mayor Bain mentioned in his December 2012 resident communication (which you can read here), we are now rolling out the new website for the City. The URL (web address) remains the same: http://pepperpike.org

Many thanks to the resident members of the Communications Committee (Tom Andrzejewski, Valeri Furst, Beth Robbins and former Councilman Cleve Svetlik), the Council members of the Committee (Scott Newell and Bob Freed), the Mayor and the City staff - especially Katy Zippert - who have all played and will continue to play a role in making this overhaul happen.

The first part of the soft launch emphasizes improved functionality. The next phase will focus on copy editing and updating content. Your input on any and all aspects, large or small, are invited and desired. You can respond by email, call or use the feedback form on the City website (here).

Thank you as always and have a fabulous 2013.

We're not the only ones looking to mayors

So does Arianna Huffington, of all people in, "Country in Crisis: Looking to America's Mayors to Rise to the Challenge."

Unfortunately, she's idealized the opportunities for all mayors based on examples from very large city mayors - cities with populations that rival the state of Ohio.  But here's a glimpse of her perceptions, based on those models:

That's why I believe the solutions the country is so desperately looking for are going to come at the local level -- from our mayors and engaged citizens working with their communities. It's our cities, not the nation's capital, that are the real idea factory of our country. It's the Mayor's Mansion not the White House from which bold decision-making is likely to originate. It's from any house on your street not the House of Representatives where projects that will make your community a better place to live in are more likely to surface.

And as our nation becomes more polarized at the national political level, it becomes all the more important to nurture the commonality we have at the local level, where people care about what they've always cared about: their children, their families, their schools, their communities. And it's our mayors who are best positioned to take advantage of these bonds -- especially given that many of our national leaders have given up even trying.

It's at the local level where we are still able to fulfill President Obama's exhortation last year "to sharpen our instincts for empathy" and "constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American Dream to future generations." It's increasingly clear that for that circle to be widened nationally it will have to be widened locally first.

I think it was the use of the word "mansion" that clued me in to her frame of reference, as you'll see in the full column: Newark (NJ), Portland (OR), Tampa (FL), Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago.

Scalability isn't just a glossary term on our kids' midterms this month. It's something all communities should seek to deploy in a variety of problem-solving settings.  I think I'm just having trouble seeing Arianna as the messenger.

County Executive Fitzgerald's statement on county-wide dispatch consolidation study

From the inbox (bolding & underlining not in original)

STUDY SUGGESTS CONSOLIDATING 9-1-1 SYSTEMS TO CUT COSTS
TO TAXPAYERS

CLEVELAND – Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald and the Cuyahoga County Department of Public Safety and Justice Services released this week their Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Assessment which assessed the current status of the forty-seven Public Safety Answering Points, or Dispatch Centers, in Cuyahoga County. The assessment looked at all jurisdictions within Cuyahoga County to get the best understanding of the current PSAP system and recommends reducing the number of PSAPs and upgrading 9-1-1 hardware.

“The notion that there are 47 dispatch centers in Cuyahoga County alone is outdated and inefficient,” said FitzGerald.  “This county has the most number of PSAPs within one county in the entire State of Ohio, and this study has recommended ways for us to move forward in reducing the number of dispatch centers in an effort to provide more efficient services at a lower cost to our residents.”

The PSAP assessment made recommendations for technology improvements to the 9-1-1 infrastructure, organizational changes to the Cuyahoga Emergency Communications System and suggests methods for regional consolidation as a way to increase dispatching efficiency.  Throughout the 134 workstations in the County, there are 475 dispatchers and call takers.  The average cost to operate a PSAP is $509,498, excluding the city of Cleveland, where it costs $4,438,593 to operate their PSAP.
 
“This assessment is essential to moving forward in upgrading and enhancing Cuyahoga County’s 9-1-1 system,” said Deputy Chief of Staff Norberto Colón.  “It puts us in a position to upgrade existing technology and become a statewide model for dispatching. We are looking forward to working with all of the jurisdictions within the County to make the biggest impact on the safety of our citizens.”

The assessment can be found at: http://ja.cuyahogacounty.us/en-us/publications.aspx

How to Get Cuyahoga County Absentee Ballot APPLICATIONS

NOT BALLOTS, people. Not the ballot itself.  This link takes you only to instructions for how you can APPLY to get a ballot. The Plain Dealer, according to this editorial, Mail-in ballot application opportunities abound, will also be printing, in its newspaper, a ballot application (not an actual ballot) for people to send in as well.

I've placed a link to the application in the header of this blog that will stay there through the end of the month.  Starting on Tuesday, October 4, the Board of Elections will start sending absentee ballots themselves to those voters who have applied and are eligible to vote.

Please do vote - whether by mail or in-person (Tuesday, November 8).

While We're At It, New Report Says Congress Uses Social Media "Extensively"

Now, it's clear that that does not necessarily make for better communications from them to the constituents, but they can have us at their fingertips if they wanted to (or were otherwise compelled to listen to us - read some of the article about how calls to Congress last night regarding the debt ceiling crashed their servers).

You can read the report, #SocialCongress: Perceptions and Use of Social Media on Capitol Hill, and more about it here.

It's just a matter of political will and mindset.

Cuyahoga County Council Streams Live, Tweets & Facebooks

The efforts described in today's Plain Dealer (read here) by the Cuyahoga County Council to be transparent and open were announced last week on WCPN's The Sound of Ideas. You can hear the entire podcast here. I listened to it live (and actually called in and spoke for a couple of minutes) and tweeted about the new social media efforts as C. Ellen Connally, the Council President, mentioned them.

From the PD article:

Live meetings of the council and its committees are available online. Click on "streaming video." The full council meets today at 6 p.m.

Legislators adopted the tools to improve transparency, which had been a pledge of members when they campaigned last year.

The council several months ago heard from a company whose technology allows citizens to watch meetings online, search video archives and link to related legislation and other public information. The system in place was done in house, and does not include features such as searchable video.

Residents can also watch archives of council meetings, but not committee meetings. Eventually, audio archives of committee meetings will be posted, said chief of staff Joe Nanni.

Internet users can also find Council on Twitter, twitter.com/cuyahogacouncil, and on Facebook at facebook.com/cuyahogacouncil.

"These new social media tools will help us to more easily interact with citizens," Council President C. Ellen Connally said in a news release.

Pepper Pike as a city does not have a Facebook page, a Twitter account nor does it stream its meetings. However, just last week, the mayor told me that he would be sending out letters to residents whom we've identified as individuals we'd love to have be part of the City's Communications/Tech/Web Committee which I chair.  I've not yet seen that go out but hopefully it either has or will shortly.

City Council Presentation Tips From The Top of Tech

From Luke Fretwell, at one of my most favorite sites/projects, GovFresh, in "How to present to your City Council like Steve Jobs":

Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently presented to the Cupertino, CA, city council on the company’s plans for building a new campus. Jobs is deferential and tells a great story about Apple’s history and its relationship with Cupertino.

Next time you present to your council, wear a black mock turtleneck and consider this an instructional video. You may never be your city’s largest taxpayer, but you could win their vote.

Be sure to click over to the post to see not one but two instructional videos, complete with Jobs making his presentations, five years apart, but in the exact same shirt.

“There’s just no excuse for our government to remain in the last century”

I know exactly how New York's junior US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand feels when she makes that statement. Earlier today, I watched her talk (via the livestream taken during the first day of PdF 2011 aka Personal Democracy Forum 2011) about how to change politics from the inside out - and you can watch her too:

Watch live streaming video from pdf2011 at livestream.com

It's not long and she gives numerous examples, big and small, of how government can and why it should open up.

If you prefer, you can read about her presentation here, "A story about data: Kirsten Gillibrand on the right way for government officials to expose themselves online."

New County CIO: A Very Intriguing Hire by County Executive

From the inbox, just received:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                      

Media Contact:

Nicole Dailey Jones, 216-263-4602 or 216-338-0863; ndjones@cuyahogacounty.us

                                                           

FITZGERALD APPOINTS NEW CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

CLEVELAND – Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald today named Jeff B. Mowry as the county’s new Chief Information Officer.

Mowry will join the newly reorganized Cuyahoga County government in April from Florida, where he currently serves as the Chief Information Officer for the Broward County government.  In this position, Mowry has managed a 16% cost reduction and has implemented an eGovernment application resulting in $2 million per year of online revenue for Broward County.

Before working for Broward County, Mowry spent almost 20 years working for Chrysler in information technology as a Chief Information Officer and as an Information Technology Manager.

“I am thrilled to have Jeff join our team here in Cuyahoga County,” said Ed FitzGerald.  “His proven track record of creating efficiencies in government information technology, greatly reducing costs to the taxpayers and his long-time management skills are all reasons he is uniquely qualified for this position and we look forward to his guidance in the area of information technology.  We also welcome Jeff back to his home state of Ohio.”

Mowry has his bachelor’s degree from Ashland University and his master’s degree from Central Michigan University.  He grew up in Mansfield, Ohio.

Now that's what I'm talking about! Will have to hear more, learn more, but at least the language being spoken is the right one re: e-Government and creating efficiencies and reducing costs to taxpayers. Hopefully, finally, someone who gets it in a position to implement.

"People can demand government evolution through participation"

The following text is printed in today's Chagrin Solon Sun.  It was written by Richmond Heights Councilwoman, Miesha Headen, and me. It's not yet online so here's the text as submitted.

The headlines in newspapers have been filled with demands from citizens for more ethical, accountable, transparent, and diverse government.   We believe that it is the responsibility of local governments to honestly answer these demands.  However, we believe that the citizens are equally responsible for instituting these demands through public service and seeking elected office.

Some cities throughout the country are actively working toward a more inclusive vision of civic engagement.  Technology is a tool to achieve this objective.  The National League of Cities (NCL) released a guide, called “Beyond Civility: From Public Engagement to Problem Solving”, which highlights how municipalities from Lancaster, PA to Manor, TX are employing technology to encourage residents to participate in important aspects of city government.

Simply put, municipalities need to move beyond town hall meetings as the only means to engage their busy and tech savvy residents. There is, indeed, no time like the present. Northeast Ohio is home to several universities, multiple software companies, and technology companies funded through Third Frontier.  We have a brand new county government.  The technology is at our fingertips.

So we are asking: “Why not here? Why not now?”  To stand still in today’s world is to drift backwards.  We cannot afford to ignore developments in e-government and e-participation, both of which require elected officials to engage, encourage and embrace their constituents. 

This evolution in government can only happen if people demand it through participation.  Throughout Cuyahoga County, local elections go uncontested, city council meetings sit empty, and local school board meetings receive no attention until a problem arises.

While campaigning for our respective positions on city council, we had the privilege to meet so many innovative, intelligent, and exuberant residents.  We want you to get involved in the noble work of public service.  Fresh faces in the public sphere are needed to counter negative ones and to create a pipeline for northeast Ohio’s government leadership.

On February 19^th at 10:00 am at the Homewood Residence in Richmond Heights (3 Homewood Drive, Richmond Heights, OH 44143), we are holding a non-partisan, forum on public service to encourage people to work in the public service and elected office.  Be the change you wish to see. 

A Gov 2.0 Refresher for 2011

Not sure what Gov 2.0 is, why it is, who it's for and what it does or can do? Read these:

Gov 2.0: The Promise of Innovation (from Forbes, defines Gov 2.0 in very simple terms)

What Is Gov 2.0 in video answers

A reminder that Government 2.0 is not just technology

5 necessary truths about Gov 2.0

10th Annual Digital Cities Survey – 2010 Results
(notice that NE Ohio's own Hyland Software sponsors this, which is good; what's not good is that out of all the categories and cities selected, only one is in Ohio - Dayton - that's extremely lamentable, and fixable)

Boston Ranks #1 Digital City in America

The Future of Cities, Information and Inclusion

A Window on Your Money

Newark Mayor Cory Booker and His Social Media Ninja Abilities Crush Snowmageddon

If you haven't seen any news stories on how Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, NJ has gotten down and dirty during Snowmageddon, read here (that's in WIRED magazine no less, titled, "Mayor Hacks Snowmageddon With Epic Tweets") and here (more run of the mill report from CNN) for starters.  Booker has more than 1 million followers on Twitter.  Good on him - and good for the City of Newark.

Booker is even defending NYC's Mayor Michael Bloomberg:

Newark Mayor Cory Booker posted on Twitter that "people are far 2 rough" on Bloomberg. He says his New Jersey city is "still fighting 2 clear snow" and notes Newark is 1/29th the size of the Big Apple.

It's pretty astonishing how big cities can be caught in such snowfalls. I recall walking out on the Key Bridge the night of the D.C. blizzard of 1982 when a plane crashed into the 14th Street bridge - we were told that the District had only three snowplows. Might sound like an impossibility, but given the conditions of the roads? I'm still not sure!

Update: Fellow blogger, Derek, wrote yesterday about Mayor Booker's skills in, Mayor Cory Booker, Twitter Superhero. Thanks for flagging that for me, Derek.

In The Arena, Untabbed*: 12/15/10

1. Voters in Beachwood, Pepper Pike's neighbor to the west, approved an increase in their income tax rate, from 1.5% to 2.0%, in November's election.   Residents who work outside Beachwood receive a complete credit on the income tax they pay to those locales. Edited in: Residents who work and live in Beachwood will see their income tax increase to .5%.  That means that the income tax increase will only be paid by people who work in Beachwood, but do not live in Beachwood, as well as those who live and work in Beachwood, but not those who live in Beachwood but work outside Beachwood.

2. In Arizona, "Tea Party Activists In Arizona Protest Changes In Trash Collection, New Recycling Program."  Russell, Ohio is facing a similar lawsuit. The argument?

[Russell resident David] Golden’s complaint claims the bidding process was unfair and will harm residents by depriving them of the “right to contract with whomever” they choose for trash hauling services.

3. An Ohio State Senator, Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster), has been trying to get our state legislators to cut their salaries since the beginning of 2010, in recognition of the hard times Ohioans are having, even though the savings is only in the hundreds of thousands. Many of his colleagues? Not interested.  Their base pay remains approximately $60,600.

4. I don't think anyone actually thinks I'm kidding, because I'm not. But here's more information about running for and winning elected office in the 21st Century: How Calgary's Mayor Used Social Media to Get Elected.  I'm going to have to start charging for advice on how to run and win office soon, especially if this City Council thing doesn't work out.

[Live-chat] THURSDAY: The Pulse of Pepper Pike, 11:30am-12:00 PM

Good morning and welcome to the sixth session of The Pulse of Pepper Pike. Today's topic for the live-chat is communications, technology and the web - the topics of the City committee which I chair. The time for the live-chat is 11:30am  to 12:00pm.  You can read the "what you should know" items below the chat frame.

[Live-chat] THURSDAY: The Pulse of Pepper Pike, 12:00-12:30 PM

Good afternoon and welcome to the fourth session of The Pulse of Pepper Pike. Today's topic for the live-chat is again budget alignment. In this chat, we'll continue to talk about the issue of aligning the City's needs with the City's revenues and resources, including an update on where the City is in proceeding with such a process. The time has been changed this week to 12noon and for just 30 minutes. I can tell from the statistics that many people are in fact reading these after they're complete (thank you!) but it appears that not many are able to join in live. We'll keep tinkering, but I hope you'll follow along either live or later. You can read the "what you should know" items below the chat frame.

[Live-chat] WEDNESDAY: The Pulse of Pepper Pike, 10:00-10:45 AM

Good morning and welcome to the third session of The Pulse of Pepper Pike. Today's topic for the live-chat is budget alignment. In this chat, we'll continue to talk about the issue of aligning the City's needs with the City's revenues and resources, including a look at an outline I've drafted of what that aligning process might involve. Hope you'll follow along either live or later. You can read the "what you should know" items below the chat frame.

[Live-chat] THURSDAY: The Pulse of Pepper Pike, 11:30 AM-12:15 PM

Good morning and welcome to the second session of The Pulse of Pepper Pike. Today's topic for the live-chat is budget alignment. In this chat, we'll talk about the issue of aligning the City's needs with the City's revenues and resources. Hope you'll follow along either live or later. You can read the "what you should know" items below the chat frame.

[Live-chat] THURSDAY: The Pulse of Pepper Pike, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM

Welcome to the first session of The Pulse of Pepper Pike.* I'm starting this weekly live-chat forum (also sometimes called a live-blog) because I've received emails, calls and met face to face with many residents over the last 18 months, but I'd like to make available regular opportunities for us to exchange ideas and information outside the context of the City Council meetings.  This post will stay at the top of the page through the end time of the chat.

A live-chat allows people to participate at whatever level they're comfortable - including not being able to attend but rather reading it back whenever it's convenient for them. Thursday's session will be an open forum but to give it some structure, should people feel shy, the topic for the session will be going over the idea of a resident or community survey, which is something I've wanted the City to do since early in 2010.

If you have any questions or technical problems with the live-chat, let me know. Many businesses and other entities use Cover It Live now - including the Washington Post and the journalism organization, the Poynter Institute. I've used it for several years now and you can see examples on my other personal blog, Writes Like She Talks. Here's one of my favorites, blogged from the NPR studios on the night of the 2008 presidential election.



*This forum is my own idea and I am solely responsible for its existence, which is to say, no one told me to do it and no one told me I can't do it - no one would tell me that though, I'm sure! ;)

[audio] WCPN Sound of Ideas on Regionalism

Want to know what others in our region are saying about regionalism? According to Mike McIntyre, who hosted WCPN's Sound of Ideas program this morning on the topic:

I have to say we had a lot of e-mails, calls and Web page comments from people who aren't very interested in the concept of sharing.

I have not listened to Shoring Up The Core yet but I am going to shortly. Here's the blurb:

As residents move out and businesses close in older cities like Cleveland, Akron and the inner-ring suburbs around them, they have little chance of renewal without help. So say some mayors in the region who are advocating that tax revenue be shared across city and county boundaries. Burgeoning Avon helps prop up withering Brooklyn? A pipe dream, or a partial solution for saving Northeast Ohio's older and newer communities? The debate Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. on 90.3.

Thomas Bier, senior fellow at Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University
Stephen D. Hambley, Medina County Commissioner
Lynn E. McGill, Mayor of Aurora

Now, WCPN also provides a link to the Regional Prosperity Initiative ("RPI") and without listening to the show, I wont' declare RPI RIP, but its website needs some resuscitation - last news item is from December 2009 and last report (only report I see) is June 2010.  Virtually demonstrating a regional concept would be a win-win. A website can be a terrible thing to waste.

Hattip to Mike McIntyre on Facebook for heads up on this show.  As he suggests, take a look at the comments at WCPN's page for this show.  Add yours there or here.