Municipalist

Virginia county wiki project aims at wide audience

The Loudoun County, Va. county library system, ranked among the top 10 in its size nationally, just went live with LoudounPedia, a community wiki focusing on a diverse list of local topics and issues. Sporting a clean, contemporary design, it appears to have the potential to become an important destination for any new resident looking to gain an awareness of the county and various institutions public and private, and to learn about local government issues and ideas. It will be interesting to watch how this is managed. Looks like an exciting project.

Local agencies to citizens: Text us when there is trouble

So Web 3.0 is here, and the platform of record is now the cellphone. And public sector examples of smart uses are accumulating. The Washington Post reports that D.C.'s transit police are considering setting up an easy way for transit riders to silently alert authorities to trouble. The trend is nationwide:

Several dozen police departments, and some school systems, have been using text-messaging to build on the success of telephone tip lines and connect to young cellphone users. In New York, residents may use their cellphones to snap photos of crimes in progress and e-mail them to police. In Chicago, the police department and several public high schools launched a program last week for students who see a gun or overhear plans for after-school fights to alert authorities by text-messaging.

More about the City of Chicago's texting efforts here and also here. Notify Chicago is the name of the city's program for which anybody anywhere can sign up, to receive text messages on a variety of "emergency and non-emergency services."

Just don't text while walking.

Update: Here is Washington Post's I.T. Blog on one Senator asking questions about why it is that prices to send text messages have doubled in the last three years. With fascinating comments.

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?

Q & A: Jennie Day, Portland Water Bureau Water Blog

One of the more unusual public sector blogs Municipalist has come across is the one and only Water Blog, published by the Portland, Oregon Water Bureau. You don't think a blog by a municipal water agency would be interesting or engaging? Think again! Water Blog is an intriguing read, that combines commentary on local history, various environmental issues, David Bowie, tales of catching bad guys, and yes, lots of posts about water.

Jennie Day from the Portland Water Bureau [apparently an agency not to mess with] answered our relentless, hard-hitting questions:

What is the history of the Water Blog? We began the Water Blog in late 2005 as the Water Bureau sent over 70 employees to help clean up New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit. We began the blog both as a method for folks to keep in touch with family and friends and also so that employees and our public could read about what was going on. We have some really touching entries from that time period.

Afterwards, we realized that the blog was a hit and Commissioner Randy Leonard, who is in charge of the Water Bureau, asked us to create a regular blog with fresh news, six days per week.