The city of Asheville is launching a new question and answer effort from the public, this time via Facebook, complete with a video introduction.
The initiative is part of the city’s ongoing efforts to use social media to receive input and answer questions, and the first post, promising video answers to citizen’s questions, went up this morning.
““We are excited about the potential the program has to increase the overall understanding of local government operations and ongoing projects,” declares Administrative Services Director Lauren Bradley in an announcement from the city. “Staff will still be available to answer questions by phone, but this program increases accessibility for those who want to ask questions after 5 p.m. or on the weekends.”
In the future, city staff may also ask the public questions through Facebook.
— David Forbes, senior news reporter
Hooray for the City of Asheville for taking this step forward. Making government more responsive and available has been an aim of mine since taking office. This effort from the CoA will mean that folks can go straight to the government for answers without any intermediaries. It will also mean that taxpayers will have more information about how their dollars are being spent.
Water bill payment due the 30th, you pay the first(payday), ten dollar late payment fee added to next month’s bill.
Just so long as this doesn’t drift towards FB registration being required before you can get access to all government services. Many of us don’t want to have to funnel our private lives through a for-profit company that has openly scorned concerns about privacy and information security.
Why is this any different than Gordo’s other propaganda outlet at his personal blog? It won’t take long at all to see the only questions being responded to are the plants and warm fuzzies. Any real concerns of substance will be glossed over and ignored as usual. Oh right, the difference is this propaganda machine is supported by our tax dollars. Thanks Gordon for another monument to your ego and double speak at our expense.
Sure, here is a question for them. Ask them for a detail of the 175,000 they got from the US Fish & Wildlfe and how it was spent at the Nature Center. Ask them how the 110,000 dollars they get from the State of North Carolina Grassroots initiative every year was spent at the Nature Center. Ask them why we as city residents are paying over a million dollars a year to fund a Nature Center. The City can barely provide basic services yet they throw money away on a Nature Center that is rotting down as we speak. These are the questions you need to ask because it is your money. In the case of the nature center, it has been so badly managed that they probably can’t even show where the money has gone. Looking at the history, it has probably gone in somebodys pocket.
So, you mean we have to join FaceBook to be able to ask questions of our elected officials? Hey, you guys won’t even respond to my written or verbal questions yet you are going to answer question on Facebook. Wow, look how technically advanced the City of Asheville is. Really serving their customers needs.
Hey, why not just hold a United Way meeting and require that all city residents attend. You could also pass out some free bibles and hold a collective prayer. What do you think Gordo?
Why is it a city council member is able to direct the use of our taxes at this foolishness anyway? Is the city staff so inept now they have to waste our money on the fad of the month? I’d much rather my taxes be used to support anything benefiting city residents instead of a particular council member’s agenda and small band of computer nerd followers. How many sidewalks and potholes can be repaired with the money they’re wasting to suck up to Gordon’s supporters while ignoring the majority of taxpayers who don’t waste time with this stuff? Why don’t they just change the name of Gordo’s blog to City Hooligans and be done with it?