Pacific Strategies

Local Government 2.0 Uses Social Media To Communicate With Public

As this PublicCEO.com article makes clear, social media — deployed wiesley and with proper guidance — is a win-win for local government and their constituents:

What do your constituents do when they have a question about an upcoming city council meeting or motorcycle training?

In Santa Clarita (@santaclarita), anyone can email “Mayor Dude” Frank Ferry (@Mayordude), follow him on Twitter or friend him on Facebook.

The city is one of a growing list of wired municipalities connecting to citizens young and old through social media. While not every administrator will feel comfortable hosting live chats or Tweeting “is hungry. Join me for lunch today at Taste of Town,” Government 2.0 is going viral.

In the northern part of the state, the City of Santa Clara (@santaclaracity) Tweets everything from notices about RFPs for tennis and sport court resurfacing projects to summer employment opportunities and Swine Flue updates.

Why the sudden interest in Twitter, Facebook, Wikis, LinkedIn and Flickr?

Rob Quigly (@RobQuigley), a Sacramento Web site developer and New Media Director for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who specializes in creation and management of government Web sites, explains the transition from Gov. 1.0 (putting up a web page to post council agendas) to Gov. 2.0 as a transition from digital archive to a two-way communication tool.

Citizens can express opinions, ask questions and get answers in real time.

That immediacy has also proved helpful in getting information out quickly in emergency situations. Whether it is Swine Flu updates, earthquake warnings, missing child reports or road closures, a single post can reach thousands of people quickly and efficiently.

Santa Clarita City Manager Ken Pulskamp has three goals for social media.

“Social networking allows the city to communicate directly with our residents and business community to ensure that the information provided is accurate, timely and relevant.”

Pulskamp says he is simply meeting expectations by running his own YouTube channel.

You can read the rest of the articled here.

PS In The News: Impact of Craigslist-eBay Trial on Whitman Candidacy

Pacific Strategies principal Matthew Cunningham was quoted today in a Contra Costa Times story about the extent to which negative portrayals of Meg Whitman coming from the Craigslist-eBay civil case will impact her campaign for Governor of California:

Conservative commentator Matthew Cunningham, an editor for RedCounty.com, said that it will be tough to change the public’s overall positive view of Whitman.

“I don’t know if one lawsuit can hurt her,” he said. “Voters know what happens in a trial, that there are a lot of charges and countercharges. They won’t take everything at face value.”

You can read the entire article here.

San Jose Introduces “Mobile City Hall”

More local governments are embracing third-party smartphone apps to improve constituent service and increase efficiency:

In the October, San José City Councilman Pete Constant introduced “Mobile City Hall” by CitySourced, an exciting new constituent service tool that will allow residents to report neighborhood problems from the convenience of their own smartphones – essentially putting the power of City Hall in the palm of your hands.

Read more here.