City of Idaho Falls Needs Better Communication With Residents
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We live in a great area, with hard working generally courteous people, and beautiful scenery. We have elected officials who likely work hard for us day in and day out (at least we hope). But I often wonder what is really going on in the area.
What are the city officials working on in those offices back there, really. What are the issues the city is facing? I’ve been to communities where they broadcast city meetings (a type of local c-span) where people can watch and be informed of the local city issues see how elected officials conduct themselves. When live meetings are not taking place, previous meetings are rebroadcast.
There are many other ways the local officials can get word out on what is happening with our great city and the decisions that are being made. Modern media updates would make a great difference for keeping people informed. If not a channel dedicated to city meetings, issues, and decisions, what about weekly or monthly updates from local officials on the television or radio. I know there are some announcements made in the local Post Register from time to time, but it appears a lack of trust in the local newspaper and more and more people are moving to the internet to get their news, it is probably not a very efficient way to get the word out to the masses. An online archive of video recording of meetings would be another way, though I think a push medium such as TV or Radio would be more convenient and help everyone stay informed.
What are your thoughts? Do you know what is going on with our city? Would you like to be able to be better informed of what decisions are being made? What other ideas do you have?
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Comments
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1 
0 Hahaha, city leaders what say ye… I would be willing to bet that this is a cause that will only be addressed when brought to their doorstep.
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3 0 Great post!
The town I previously lived in had a deal with the local cable company to have a channel that broadcasts city government meetings.
I’m probably one of the few people who watched it sometimes, but it was fascinating at times (most of the time, the complete opposite of fascinating). I had no idea how much procedure had to be followed to get things done. People came in for disputes about property zoning etc. Occasionally, someone would “grand stand” in ways that they wouldn’t if they weren’t recording themselves at home with their VCR. Overall, that wasn’t a significant problem and a great idea. It also allows people that aren’t able to physically get to such places to participate in some way and be aware of referendums and other issues that may affect them.
The idea of an online archive is an excellent complementary idea as well and might be a more feasible short term solution. As “guest Writer” said though, the most helpful way is probably television broadcast.
This of course takes funding and “how to pay for it” is exactly the kind of thing that would be good to broadcast.
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4 0 What a great topic. We the people surely need to be more involved with what is going on in our community and the decisions that are being made by those officials that we have placed in office. I do however have some trust issues with what the media will give us as what they percieve as important or not. I would like to see a web site that gives a calander of upcoming events, topics etc. and minutes listed as to what occured in the meetings that are taking place. It would be a wonderful thing to have everyone show up at these meetings, but you and I know that personal schedules or finding a place with enough room for the public to attend would be almost impossible. A web site that could bring the information to the public would be a wonderful way for those who are not able to attend meetings or the individuals that may not be that interested in leaving the comfort of their homes to access to the information that involves and concerns them.
In post #2 POV said, “I would be willing to bet that this is a cause that will only be addressed when brought to their doorstep.” Why can’t we bring it to their door step? It is our government isn’t it? Then why not be a little more involved in it and push it forward. Each of our Commissioners, City Council people, and every other elected official have email and telephones that can be utilized to contact them with.
Maybe I am out on a limb, but I would love to find out what others think and find some solutions as to how we can obtain better communication from our City and County leaders. Maybe, just maybe, our leaders need a little bit more guidance from what the people they serve are in need of and want. Lets make it easier for them and us and open up better lines of communication.
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4 0 Great idea Porter. Let’s all of us start an E-Mail campaign to get the minutes posted on line. To start, does anyone know the E-Mail addresses of our elected officials? I’m afraid that I don’t. If anyone has them, or knows where to get them, please share it with us, and then we can each write to them expressing our concerns and wants.
If they each get enough E-Mails, I am willing to bet that they won’t ignore them.
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1 0 Vote:
2 1 It might take a little bit of time, but let me do some research and I will post them as soon as I find them.
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2 0 I went to the existing City of daho Falls website, clicked on the existing “City Hall’ link, and clicked on the existing link to City Council Minutes. I have no special superpowers. 
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2 1 I beg to differ regarding the “special superpowers”! 
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1 0 Wow, you guys are on top of it. Thanks and good luck to us in getting this rolling.
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2 0 Thank you Find Humor. I had no idea the minutes were already posted. You kept me from embarrassing myself — so again I say thank you.
I did go in and read the last posted minutes — July 10. They were really not very entertaining, but at least I for one can’t complain anymore about not knowing what was going on at the City Council meetings.
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1 0 Thanks Humor, problem solved. I will certainly take the opportunity that is already in place to view what our City Officials are doing. It is somewhat impressing that this line of communication is allready in place.
Thanks again.
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Dang! I would really like to know more than I do. I think I would be more informed than I am, and the information would be more accurate as it would not be filtered through others’ perceptions. (Although the filtering through my own mental baggage could be signficant.)
My curiousity also goes to…if they are more exposed, won’t they be more exposed to negative reactions? Folks catching the tale end of something live, or coming into the middle of things, being unnecessarily upset and slowing things down as the leaders deal with the misconceptions.
Other communities have more open government, so it stands to reason there are prevously tested models that are effective and can be borrowed.
Great post. Thanks for the idea. City leaders, what say ye?