Christina Gagnier: Government Must Give a ****: A Lesson from @garyvee

"The attitude to accompany the technology is simple. It is just a matter of letting people know you are there, listening and caring about what they have to say, whether it be about their communities, statewide policies or national issues. Civic iPhone applications like SeeClickFix and CitySourced work because their users feel like the city government actually cares when that pothole finally gets filled. They are not magic; they just give citizens the validation that they matter and their actions count. The application itself is not what transforms the citizen experience, rather, it is the physical act of the government itself that comes as a result from the data collected by the application."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christina-gagnier/government-must-give-a-a_b_513434.html

Sacramento City Council Receives Agendas on Kindles and Netbooks

"Distributing meeting agendas to Sacramento City Council members has become less expensive and greener now that members receive agendas electronically on Amazon Kindle e-book readers and netbooks.

"Before the switch, the city consumed one ream of paper per day for each council member for all necessary documents, according to Sacramento City Clerk Shirley Concolino. That amount of paper cost $1,500 per year, per council member."

http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/749789

I would really like to know how the council members use the e-books with the other information sources -- their own memory, and that is in print and online. Nevertheless, this is a good sign of growth -- willingness to accept change.

Comprehensive Community Plan now online

The Planning department had underway the re-digitization of the Comprehensive Community Plan. Better news is that it is now online at http://www.southkingstownri.com/town-government/municipal-departments/planning/comprehensive-community-plan. Vincent Murray, Director of Planning, was kind enough to send me a copy of his letter to the Town Manager.