City Officials Keep in Touch with Web Logs

by Leanna Frankland

A perpetually challenging aspect of a municipal officials work is remaining in communication with members of the community at large. Some local officials have found an innovative way to address this difficulty they have started blogging.

Web logs, or blogs, are becoming an increasingly common way for people to communicate their ideas to an audience. Recognizing this, some local officials have started their own blogs to reach out to members of the community.

Officials are using their blogs to comment on local issues, focus attention on topical news items and provide citizens with a more detailed image of the daily dealings of their elected officials.

Online journals allow readers to post questions and comments directly to an entry, which officials are finding encourages a dialogue on local issues and provides them with a new source of feedback. In addition to this, officials are also discovering that maintaining a blog allows them to more effectively reach out to a younger audience, the predominant readers of blogs.

The National League of Cities (NLC) Examples of Programs for Cities collection contains the following examples of public officials web logs:

Eden Prairie, Minn.

Population: 54,901Year Started: 2003Contact: Scott Neal, city manager, 952-949-8112E-mail: sneal@edenprairie.org

The Eden Prairie city manager maintains a web log to communicate with residents on a variety of topics.

The blog provides a forum through which community members can discuss pertinent issues amongst themselves and with a city official.

The city managers blog has a steadily increasing number of visitors, from 235 in its first month of existence to more than 2,200 just two years later. The Eden Prairie Police Chief and Fire Chief also maintain blogs. City officials find that the blogs improve communication with colleagues and staff as well as members of the public.

Source: Communicating via the blogosphere. by Don Reeder, Minnesota Cities, v90 n3 (Mar. 2005) p13, Saint Paul, MN: League of Minnesota Cities.

Find it on the Web at: http://edenprairieweblogs.org/html/scott_neal.html

Elburn, Ill. Population: 2,756Year Started: 2004Contact: James L. Willey, mayor, 630-387-8721E-mail: jlwilley@msn.com

The mayor of Elburn maintains a weblog in which he describes community events and his experiences as mayor. He also uses it as a forum to explain to citizens how village decisions are made and to invite comment on this process from readers.

The mayor sees the blog as a way to encourage citizens to get involved in their community.

Source: Mayor Willeys Elburn web log. http://www.elburn.il.us/mayorsblog.html , (May 2, 2005) Elburn, IL: Village of Elburn.

Find it on the Web at: http://www.elburn.il.us/mayorsblog.html

Reading, Pa. Population: 81,207Year Started: 2005Contact: Tom McMahon, mayor, 610-655-6234E-mail: mayor@readingpa.org

Readings mayor maintains an Internet blog in which he comments on news items, local issues and his daily dealings at city hall. He also uses it to provide useful information to local citizens.

Citizens can post comments or questions to the mayors blog, starting a dialogue on local issues. The mayor sees his blog as an opportunity to highlight positive aspects of the city that may not be featured in news outlets or other media.

Source: From the Mayors Desk. http://www.readingeagle.com/blog/mayor , (April 29, 2005) Reading, PA: Reading Eagle Company.

Find it on the Web at: http://www.readingeagle.com/blog/mayor

Source: National League of Cities (NCL).