Municipalist

State-run 529 college investment plans: Your Web sites make zero effort to engage your customers

As what's left of the American mainstream media looks out over the country's shattered financial landscape, among the big questions for plenty of families: How to pay for college during these Crisis Years? Many, including yours truly, have invested in 529 plans, run by states. We are promised responsible allocations, sensible fees, the money grows tax free, no federal taxes are due when withdrawing the money if using it to pay for college, and some states often a deduction along the way on state tax returns.

529's have taken huge hits in recent months, not surprisingly, along with every other type of investment that has stock market exposure. One big problem: operators of these plans don't understand accountability.

The Wall Street Journal points to several ugly examples of plans in some states that are way too aggressive. One expert quoted in the piece nails the problem: " ... the asset allocation for the 16- to 18-year-olds looks as if it was designed by the 5-year-olds." Meaning too often way, way too much in stocks, so close to the time-certain when families will need to withdraw the money to pay for college. And not only do these states ignore any Web-based engagement with users, they blow off the Wall Street Journal when it hunts for a basic explanation:

Assets in 529s, which peaked at $112 billion at year-end 2007, totaled $88.5 billion as of this December. Sadly, the public's faith in 529s appears to be based partly on a false premise: that state bureaucrats are good at managing other people's money.

Officials in several states, including Maine, New Mexico and North Carolina, declined or didn't respond to requests for comment; nor did J.&W. Seligman & Co., which ran the riskiest portion of the North Carolina plan.

Talk about low-hanging fruit: Here is a corner of government that could very quickly benefit in big ways from engaging customers and potential customers by turning their Web presences into discussion and listening channels. That's not just because of the demand for more information on the type of content they deal with, meaning ways to save and pay for college over time. But also obviously because of the the type of highly-engaged, hyper-aware consumer who would be very willing to participate and share and activate around an energized effort here: parents.

To say nothing of course of such obviously horrendous media relations. A field in which it seems to me would offer this bit of basic tactical advice on day one: Call back the reporter from the Wall Street Journal, so you don't end up looking like a crook to the world.

Then learn about turning your staid, dull Web sites into something alive and active and interactive. Your customers and potential customers are getting wise.

FEMA: Get a blog!

With two huge storms bearing down on the United States, where the hell is FEMA? Meaning: Why no blog? Why apparently no contact with the social Web whatsoever? When The Chosen One finally gets elected, will part of the promised vast new Web strategy include this mandate: the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among all federal agencies, will blog, all day, all night, and will use RSS, audio, video, chat, cellphone alerts, Twitter, and whatever else out there to engage the citizenry of this country?

Especially for those in hurricane zones. This cannot happen soon enough.

Cook County says no to blogs, yes to dead-tree publishing

The Chicago Tribune tells the tale:

Tired of getting "pummeled by the newspapers every day," Cook County Board president Todd Stroger's administration has decided to counter with a new magazine overseen by county officials. Publisher/editor Theresa Tracy said Cook County magazine would be "independently published" and a "credible, compelling and valuable resource" for county residents.

The magazine was published, but will not be distributed. The official reason is too many errors. But you never know what to believe in Cook County. Blogs are built for speed, they work great for sparring with news media, and I can even spell-check before I publish! Amazing.

Time for the Clintonian Post

Politico blogger Ben Smith notes that Peter Daou, Hillary Clinton's Web guru, will apparently continue to stick around "Hillaryland." Daou's job, among other things, will be "keeping a handle on" the vast email database the Clinton campaign assembled.

His new role reflects a striking feature of contemporary politics, in which online organizing allows defeated candidates — notably Howard Dean, though Wes Clark was also among the first — to keep their supporters and some of their power in the form of their e-mail lists.

No word as to what "keeping a handle on" actually entails. But apparently, not a blog. So here is what we would like to see: The Hillary Clinton blog. This is a great time for it. Everybody tells defeated candidates from both parties to sit down and shut up after the primaries. Instead, we say: Blog. And we have a name: The Clintonian Post.

She could even occasionally let What's His Name contribute. We'd read it.

When the levee breaks: Iowa local government agencies miss opportunity

Much of Iowa, including 400 blocks of Cedar Rapids (right) is underwater. But its leaders are not adequately using the Web to help. Example: The city manager of West Des Moines actually publishes his own blog. Last post: June 4. Last post before that one: May 16.

This is about a disconnect. A lost opportunity. Another example: A press conference with the City of Des Moines Public Works director shows up in streaming video on the Web site of the Des Moines Register, but the department's own Web site shows zero evidence of any crisis. More wasted online real estate, in such a time of need.

Nothing Flakey here: Earmark basher for VP

John McCain, have we got a VP for you.

If there is one Congressman whose blog we would read, it would be the one by Jeff Flake, the earmark-battling Arizona Republican. Flake has no blog, actually, but does do a hilarious weekly short piece on his site called "Egregious Earmark of the Week."

Take Flake's EEW from June 6, 2008:

"$48,000 out of the taxpayer's pockets for something called the Eccles Ice Center in North Logan, Utah to expand the science, physical education, and creative movement program." Then Flake adds: “We could sure use Tonya Harding and her ex-husband to kneecap this earmark."

Don't you love that?! Municipalist regularly points out individuals and agencies in government who should blog, for our Get a blog! feature. We definitely want to read what's on Flake's mind more than just once a week. So, Jeff Flake: Get a blog!

And John McCain: Consider this guy. Young, smart, confronts his evil colleagues, who are drunk on spending taxpayers' money just to get re-elected. Who cares if this guy is from the same state as McCain? Flake would be gold on a national campaign. He speaks his mind. And all those teeth!

He takes on special interests, which has always been McCain's mantra. The Arizona Duo may then actually have a chance to compete against The Chosen One. And the moment for Flake may be here yet again, as another spending binge appears to be on the way. The Washington Post today reports: Earmark spending in the House's defense authorization bill alone soared 29 percent last month, from $7.7 billion last year to $9.9 billion now.

Mike Bloomberg: Get a blog!

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg describes his Facebook profile:

“I now have 3,715 friends, of whom I actually know three,” he said.

Mr. Mayor, you said a mouth full.

There certainly would be a big audience in New York City for a regularly-updated Michael Bloomberg blog. And if any mayor in the country could make this work, it is this guy, who made his cash with his own media company. Join the conversation, Mr. Mayor. Start a blog, dump Facebook, and leave all that "friending" to teenagers.

Mikebloomberg.com is certainly an attractive site, but no blog, and several links go nowhere. Bloomberg could inspire many other mayors to blog. Just a real lost opportunity here.

School districts: Blog your storms!

[See updates at end of post]

Parents of kids stuck at school during wild storms want info right now. They want to know: Why doesn't the school district update its damn Web site!? Not only to get the information out and update it. But to listen to and respond to feedback.

Engage your community. Blog the storm. Your parents will thank you.

One person was killed Wednesday as a brutal, howling, rain and wind storm rushed through the D.C. metro area leaving 300,000 homes without power for hours. At least two big Maryland school districts will be closed on Thursday. Loudoun County, Virginia blogging school board member John Stevens points out that because of the severity of the storm, school officials were delaying sending students home. But there was a problem:

The LCPS website is being hammered by parents and as of now does not have information about the delay on it.

That was at 3:13 p.m. More than nine hours later, still no info to be found on this site whatsoever. Nor is there any attempt to use the site to engage with parents about the school districts' decision, to provide continuous updates, to encourage email questions or allow comments, etc. Where is the superintendent? Get that guy his own blog. It is days like Wednesday when he needs it most.

Bill Clinton: Get a blog!

This cheap hit piece on Bill Clinton in Vanity Fair is making the rounds. But Municipalist wants to make the case again: The best way to fight back is to blog. So, Bill Clinton: Get a blog! I'd read it, wouldn't you? The real value is in building a conversation that circumvents the media. Go straight over their heads to the American people. Oh, wait. Didn't Clinton as president do that all the time!? The guy's staff could contribute to it as well. And his pals. In no time Bill would have created his own Huffington Post-style blogging community. Of course, when you are saving the world, and getting paid, and campaigning for your wife, your orientation may be elsewhere. But c'mon, Bill. Fight back. And blogging is the way to do it.

It is, in fact, the mainstream news media that truly is need of an intervention these days. One of the subheads for the Vanity Fair piece is "A Cavernous Narcissism." Meaning Clinton. But that term perfectly describes the Vanity Fairs out there, self-deluded relics from the industrial age, feeling the heat of the new media universe, unable to survive without gleefully launching themselves into the mud. Continuing to blindly flail away, like a punch-drunk boxer moments from being counted out. "A huge force of nature," Purdum writes. Indeed.

[Even better: How 'bout a blog by Chelsea?]

How to save the National Mall: Blog it

Here is one civic project that could benefit from input by forward thinkers who understand how to make use of the Web to build community and consensus: Fixing the National Mall. This sad but important story has been in the news constantly here in Washington lately. And it is quite a tale.

The National Mall, the lovely but too often forlorn open stretch between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial, encompassing the city's major memorials, has suffered plenty from lousy planning, overuse, and overbuilding, mainly because it is managed by several overly bureaucratic competing agencies, the worst of which is the Congress itself. Last week, the drum beat for change continued in testimony before a House committee. [News coverage here and here. Great list of recent stories here.]

And for a terrific overview of the problem, with plenty of history, check out this piece from 2005.

Those behind the Trust for the National Mall, a private organization, have just this month begun a project to raise half a billion dollars. The organization sports a lovely Web site. It needs a blog. One with energy and passion. It needs a whole Web 2.0 strategy to get the word out and build awareness and enthusiasm. If political candidates can build excitement for their campaigns through innovative use of the Web, and raise mountains of cash online as well, why can't such an organization pursuing such a worthy cause do so as well?

Public institutions and Web 2.0: A match that isn't

This blog hit its stride with the postings from January 2008 about the behavior of the Fairfax County, Virginia public school district, after a student posted to YouTube a voice mail of a nasty telephone call he received from the wife of a school district bigwig. Our take, which nobody else had: Public institutions such as public school districts need to engage the public more, engage better, and use tools such as blogging, to head off such embarrassments, and not to appear like deer in the headlights the moment some kid shows he understands simple Web 2.0 tools much better than you do.

Municipalist recently compiled a list of our posts related to what we now call The Fairfax Shrieker, and here they are:

Part I: School district's tale: Why organizations need to learn about social media. Or else

Part II: Virginia school district shrieking wife: ABC has the audio

Part III: Eduflack on the Edushriek

Part IV: The Fairfax Shrieker: Getting it wrong

Part V: Weil on the Fairfax Shrieker

HHS site reveals hospital satisfaction scores

Municipalist himself has undergone less than satisfactory experiences with hospitals over the last year or so. To say the least. So we were intrigued with news of a new Web site published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that allows users to search and find how their local hospitals fared in a large consumer satisfaction survey.

HHS has previously published hospital mortality rates and clinical measures of performance, indicating whether hospitals appropriately treated heart attacks, pneumonia and other conditions, but this is the first time the government has provided comprehensive data on consumer satisfaction, reports the New York Times. More info on the site here.

At first glance, the site is bland and uninviting, but it does offer plenty of info. Of course, no blogging element. Too bad. Blogging would be a great way to engage the public around this important data.

Hat tip: GRPR.

Buh-bye!

As we predicted a few days ago, if you dawdled and neglected to visit eliotspitzer.com, your time has now passed, my friend.

Eliot Spitzer: Get a Blog!

Our Get a blog! category has found its true calling. It turns out Eliot Spitzer does not have a blog. As far as Municipalist can determine. Too bad, eh? Prediction: It is certain, it would seem, that some day soon one of these elected or otherwise very public people caught in some scandal will actually take to the Web to make his/her case to constituents. Through blogging. Having had some experience online at that point will be important. We recall how miraculous it seemed to many, anyway, when Howard Dean and Joe Trippi figured out how to actually raise money and build excitement (if not draw votes) using the Web beginning about five years ago.

The Spitzer situation proves less than apt here, as the guy seems dead in the water. But consider as an example, though a less-than-savory one, just to illustrate the point: What if Johnny Cochran, O.J. Simpson's criminal lawyer, had access to the Web, in 1994 and '95 during that trial? Do you think it would have crossed his mind to build a huge O.J.-was-framed community online? Think of that for a moment. Remember the cheering outside the courtroom when the verdict was read? And remember Cochran's mezmerizing playing of the media, particularly such influential outlets (at the time) as The New Yorker magazine, etc.?

THE "influential outlet" these days is the Web at large. So the first time an elected official himself makes serious use of the Web to defend and fight back, the doors will be open, and that will be it. The Web is already used to condemn and prosecute and ridicule. [This site in particular, which the New York Times calls "a popular Wall Street gossip site" has spent much of the day gleefully slamming Spitzer.] It just follows, to Municipalist anyway, that the Web can and will be a place to defend, explain, and counterpunch. Yet another reason for all of you out there in the public sector to Get a blog! And learn to use it. You may need it some day. [Here is Business Week on 'Eliot's Enemies.']

UPDATE: We note this at Spitzer's governor campaign site, at the bottom of the front page: "Paid for by Spitzer 2010."

Inside, we find this: "Every day on the Internet, people are making their voices heard about the important issues we all face. When we speak out for what's right, when we stand up against what's wrong, and when we share our ideas with one another, we create an environment that makes real change possible.

"Governor Eliot Spitzer is excited to be a part of that online community-sharing with New Yorkers his plans for our state, and listening to their ideas for how we can return New York to the beacon of hope and opportunity it once was."

But there is no idea-sharing going on, because there is no blog to be found. And we would recommend visiting Eliot Spitzer's 2010 campaign Web site fairly soon.

Really, really soon.

Virginia school district shrieking wife: ABC has the audio

Ah, the full-throated passion of the Public Official Spouse.

Municipalist first post here. Washington Post initial article here (free registration required). AP here. Next-day column from the Post's Marc Fisher here ("In Cyberspace, Everyone Can Hear Your Scream"). Fisher chat here, with great reader wisdom. Atlanta Journal Constitution blog on manners tweaks schools PR guy for his bizarre statement regarding calling the administrator at home. The school district in a neighboring county received plenty of calls that day. The issue is not snow days. The issue is how school districts make these decisions with little or no engagement with their constituents. It's: Trust us. Now stop complaining if you don't like it. Ideas: How about establishing a parent council on this? Or a blog that describes the process in the early morning that school district leaders go through, watching the weather, trying to make a tough call, etc. A blog would also provide a great place for a discussion of this. Would everybody be happy? No. Would some much-needed engagement and transparency open a pressure valve on such issues for parents and students? Municipalist suggested this at a presentation he did a couple years ago advocating blogging for school PR people. And the reaction was confusion and flat-out opposition.

School district's tale: Why organizations need to learn about social media. Or else

This story offers so much to anybody in public governance. Particular to anyone looking for examples of how not to practice public engagement. High school kid, at school, calls school district administrator's home, during the school day, requesting he and his spoiled chums be given the day off because of a few snow flakes. Administrator is not home. Administrator's shrieking wife calls back and leaves a crazy/weird rant message on kid's cell phone. Don't call us you brat, etc. Kid then immediately posts the thing on YouTube. School district is humiliated, but is not smart enough to know it. School district spokesman Paul Regnier says: "Any call to a public servant's house is harrassment." Which is likely news to much of the republic.

The reason adults are made to look like goofballs so easily by kids is, well, obvious: Because it's so easy. And not just because kids understand the technology better than the adults who run their schools. It's also because of arrogance, through a lazy haze of entitlement, creating such a vast distance between public school district leaders and the schools' customers/consumers/constituents: the students themselves, and their families. If public officials themselves -- and public school administrators are public officials -- would make even the slightest effort to engage their communities through use of these Internet tools, blogging being just one, could idiot events like this be avoided? Who won this public perception battle, and why? Municipalist will be soliciting some responses in the coming days.

Alas, the YouTube video was taken down. WashingtonPost.com story has a link, but it is gone. Too bad. Recordings of snarling, howling, wailing public official spouses, of either gender, make fine early evening listening here at The Home Office. An experience we liken to sipping a fine wine. Say, a lovely Napa Valley Cabernet. Mmmmm.

UPDATE: Fabulous audio from ABC News here.

Get a blog: Loudoun County, Virginia real estate assessor's office

The category here at Municipalist called Get a blog! offers yet another sad story: The property assessor in Loudoun County, Virginia feels heat from a local blogger, who blogs about real estate. The assessor returns the heat to that blogger, threatens, honks, blows smoke, demands the blog pull the offending post, etc. Another Virginia blogger, who has been following the whole thing, analyzes thus:

While it's refreshing that the Loudoun County Government is now reading blogs, perhaps it's time to counter with a raft of more accessible, online information to counter this issue. Rather than simply direct inquiring minds to a single loudoun.gov website link, why not open a more direct and informative conversation with the online public through an online government blog or forum? It can be mediated, and with relevant social media 2.0 skills, can be a very effective way to engage the public on public property, vs. private.

She's speakin' our language! She's singin' our song! She's walkin' down our sidewalk, turnin' our corner, and mowin' our lawn!

You get the point.

Get a blog! --> U.S. Customs and Border Patrol

New category: Get a blog! Municipalist likes the site from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol because of two factors: It appears to be updated frequently, and we see a big RSS icon. We would love to see a real blog though, and gee, if there is one site within the USA.gov universe that could truly draw a readership to a government blog, this is it. Obviously controversial subject matter, wrapped around continuously debated policy, surrounded by a presidential election. Blogs would offer a great way to join the discussion. These people don't make the rules, they just get to enjoy the underpaid pleasure of enforcing them. Why couldn't blogging play a big role in this? The site already offers plenty of stories about the latest huge marijuana busts, tunnel discoveries, etc. Action! You know the activists on all sides of immigration issues are using the Web. So U.S. Customs and Border Patrol: Get a blog!

Public officials in Virginia: Time to blog

A Virginia blogger wonders: Why not more public-official bloggers? And so, the blogger, whose name is Jim Duncan and lives in Charlottesville, puts his money where his mouth is, challenging his local county and city elected leaders:

Here is an offer to any of the current or prospective members of the local seats - I’ll give you an hour or two of my time to show you how to blog. I’ll help you set one up and show you some of the basics and “rules” of blogging. It’s neither hard nor intimidating, but it may be new for some and there is a learning curve.

The selfish return for you is this - members of the public will read what you write. If they like it, they’ll let you know. If they don’t, they’ll let you know that, too. The selfish return for the public is this - you’ll be more accessible and likely better informed - if you take it seriously.

Make no mistake - it’s work, but would benefit all of us.

Would any of the current or prospective members be willing to take this offer?

Municipalist is not hopeful. But he is inspired. We will keep you posted on whether anyone takes Jim up on his offer. In the same item, Duncan links to these three Charlottesville elected officials who blog: Mayor and city council member David Brown, fellow city council member Dave Norris, and school board member Brian Wheeler. 

Cutting through the smoke: Why no blogs among San Diego government agencies?

As Municipalist hunts away for examples of decent government-based blogs focusing on the Southern California wildfires, he realizes this: It is a Web 1.0 world out there still for most of these sites. Good local government blogs and sites that push engagement and interactivity are rare. Many of these sites work hard to provide plenty of information. But they are clunky, poorly designed, and too often they ignore including basic tools to encourage participation and information sharing from users. One example is the San Diego County Emergency Homepage, where a decent effort has been made to update citizens on evacuations, etc., but the whole thing seems stuck in some late '90s context. Meaning: Lots of stuff to click to and read. Stacks of PDF files and Word (!) documents that can be printed out.

But are there any places where readers themselves can contribute and share information, or have discussions, or have their questions answered by experts? Nope.

A section called "Breaking News Briefs" is slightly like a blog, but posts are not detailed enough. And no comments. And no way to search, say, for info on my town or neighborhood or address. Google Maps are made use of, and that is a great idea. But the best sites across the Web of today are figuring out how to tap into the knowledge of users. The efforts of many countless municipal, state, and federal employees in Southern California have been heroic, no doubt. But this site fails to get the job done.

Similarly, the site of San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders is packed with plenty of PDF files to download. Get a blog, Jerry. It's a great way to build a dialogue with your city.

Municipalist is confident that good government blogs are out there focusing on the fire. The hunt continues.

____________________

Nov. 2, 2007 UPDATE: The blog at New Communications Review reports that social networking sites were all over the California wildfires:

The Los Angeles Fire Department posted frequent updates and information like tips for donating to the fire victims on Twitter. More than 800 photos of the wildfires are available to view on Flickr.com, and San Diego’s TV station News 8 replaced its original site with a rolling news blog linking to YouTube videos of its key reports and Google Maps