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Upper Kirby Citizen Participation Portal
Challenges Entered:
The Upper Kirby Citizen Participation Platform promotes transparency and accountability in local government by utilizing new technologies to allow constituents to directly participate in the decision making process.
The Upper Kirby Citizen Participation Platform promotes transparency and accountability by providing online information on the district’s administrative issues including development plans and projects, public documents, budgets, agendas and minutes of monthly board meetings, a calendar of events and public notices. It offers a multi-channel medium for reaching out to and involving the community via interactive tools such as forums, polls and blogs that allow inhabitants to join debates on communal issues, cast their votes and communicate directly with their representatives. Ultimately, it provides the community’s stakeholders a chance to actively and directly influence the decisions that affect their community. The latest online registration and security systems protect the identity and personal information of users.
WHAT WE NEED:
We will need to engage media resources to publicize this effort within our community and publicize the benefits of participation. We will also need recourses in the form of man-hours and meeting space to hold public meetings and educational sessions detailing the features of this new technology and how to use it to its full effect. We anticipate some degree of grass-roots promotions and speaking engagements also that could necessitate printed materials and handouts.
Location
Houston, TX
United States
See map: Google Maps
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One Economy's Beehive
There have been many city gov't portals that have run aground on the shoals of citizen's discinclination to use the medium in sufficient mass. The location of this project and its obvious familiarity with new tools might make it an exception to the norm. Question--Are you familiar with One Economy's Beehive project and would a relationship make sense in terms of driving traffic to the site?
RE: One Economy's Beehive
You are absolutely correct in that our main obstacle will be raising constituent's confidence in internet participation and engaging them on a regular basis. Worldwide, there have been enormous leaps in citizen participation via the internet, but here in America there is still much skepticism. Day by day, people are becoming more comfortable with sensitive online tools such as banking, bill pay and even taxes. In a society where voter turnouts are at an all time low and the general population is largely uneducated on local policy and legislation, why not use the best new technology to insure that citizens can participate in their respective local governments as securely and conveniently as they pay their monthly bills?
If I am correct, One Economy's Beehive is a tool for low income housing assistance. I have not done much research on the project, but will absolutely explore the option further. Under our organization's current charter, we are not involved in low income housing assistance programs; however, as our partnerships expand with the scope of this project, it may provide a great asset to neighboring communities. It may be a wonderful tool in driving traffic to the site, but under our current project plan it may be out of context. We must continue to work other promotional venues to drive initial traffic to the site.
Thank you for your suggestion.