I wrote an article on how the municipality could leverage Facebook and interact with the community.

http://logixstudios.com/2011/12/municipal-engagement-facebook/

There is so much negativity online in comments and through Facebook that I think the city needs to look at connecting with people a little more and making themselves more accessible. In my opinion its something that’s worthwhile for them to consider at least.

The local police service has done a great job leveraging Facebook. The local Fire Department has also (very) recently jumped on board. It isn’t always pretty on these sorts of pages, unsavoury stuff is posted, but it’s handled promptly and professionally, by a real person. Which is all that can be asked for and all I think that people really expect. Complaining about my taxes on a Municipal Facebook wall will not drop my taxes, I think we all know this. But, if that complaint is answered with information as to why my taxes are high… well, at least we’re getting somewhere.

We live in a world of instant gratification – a few quick clicks and I can find anything or contact anyone. As a citizen of modern technology I don’t just want that, I expect it. So, when I don’t get it, it’s frustrating. Does that make me an entitled brat? 100% yes. But I’m not the only one – we’re all hooked on real time communication. Failure to adapt and accommodate that need for interaction and acknowledgment makes your organization appear unapproachable. Which leads to one of two reactions – 1) people give up on engagement (hello crappy voter turnout) or 2) people get angry. Why? Because they have no reason to believe that anyone is listening.

Brandon’s point in his post about accessibility is right on. The quickest way to stop negativity is to respond to it directly and correct misconceptions. Ignore it and it will snowball. The municipality is trying, ie Michael’s comments above outlines some of the efforts. But it’s not really enough. If I email a councillor, I expect a response – is that really asking a lot? If I’m frustrated about something, give me a place where I can voice these frustrations and receive a timely response. Don’t make it difficult for people to voice their concerns, because the more hoops they have to jump through, the less likely they’re going to do it… instead, they’ll just give up and complain. Make local government approachable and more people will step up – I want to support my government, I want to make our community a better place, but I don’t really know how or what’s going on unless I go out of my way to figure it out. Eventually I will stop caring. Right now I’m young and naive, so I keep bothering people, but eventually, if something doesn’t change, I’ll give up and become bitter. How is that conducive to creating a sustainable, engaging, vibrant community?

Hello everyone:

It is interesting and informative to see your comments. Brandon, thank you for your insightful article, “Municipal engagement through Facebook. It can be done.”

Chatham-Kent Council has indeed embraced civic engagement, as outlined in its Action Plan 2011-2014 (http://www.chatham-kent.ca/council+and+administration/mayor+council+and+cao/council/strategic+directions+and+goals/Chatham-Kent+Council+Action+Plan+2011-2014.htm). Among the initiatives are an open, televised forum to share information on community development issues, development of a community marketing program, facilitating partnerships, and a community engagement initiative that includes adopting a Civic Engagement Policy, piloting an Ambassador Program, and capitalizing on all appropriate means of communication including social media.

As you can imagine, any municipality conducts a huge and diverse volume of ongoing daily and hourly communication involving citizens, staff and resources – face-to-face, mail, faxes, telephone, meetings, events, the various traditional media, e-mail and websites. The municipality is held accountable for the accuracy, efficiency and legality of these communications. Although many citizens do not yet use social media, these media definitely present vast new opportunities for engagement, as well as necessary new challenges. They will, no doubt, provide efficiencies over time, but devising capacity to address these additional demands will also take time. The municipality is already developing this capacity, as you have partially mentioned.

Engagement through Social Media

As the municipal sponsorship logo on this very page indicates, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent has purchased a sponsorship of InCK.ca precisely to assist in establishing it as an independent, Chatham-Kent identified forum in which citizens such as you can, subject to the editorial policy of this privately operated network, discuss any subject that is important to you. Representatives of the municipality intend to take part in discussions to the degree appropriate to Canadian democratic traditions, effective municipal customer service, and available time and personnel. Some are already involved.

It is democratically appropriate and efficient that informal open-ended social and political discussions, where citizens can post comments about the municipality and about other citizens’ comments, take place in independent online forums such as InCK.ca . Meanwhile, Chatham-Kent Council and its Council Committees, supported by the municipal administration, represent the formal democratic political process of our community. As a result, comments received through the municipal website (http://www.chatham-kent.ca/default.htm) or the Municipality of Chatham-Kent Facebook site (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Municipality-of-Chatham-Kent/159739724324), as well as other media are forwarded to the appropriate elected officials or customer service office to be addressed one-on-one, and to inform the formal political process where appropriate.

In addition, individual municipal departments or associated agencies are increasingly using social media for customer service information. Currently, they include Twitter and Facebook accounts including:

Chatham-Kent Fire Department (Official) – http://www.facebook.com/ckfiredept?ref=pb
Chatham Cultural Centre – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chatham-Cultural-Centre/191275377569986?ref=pb
Chatham-Kent Workforce Planning Board – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chatham-Kent-Workforce-Planning-Board/187983537909799?ref=pb
Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit – http://www.facebook.com/CKPHU?ref=pb
CKRecreation – http://www.facebook.com/ckrecreation?ref=pb
Chatham-Kent Police Service – http://www.facebook.com/ckpolice?ref=pb
Chatham-Kent Public Library – http://www.facebook.com/ChatKentPubLib?ref=pb

Social media have also been used for temporary projects, such as the CK Celebrates the Torch events and the recent Rick Hansen relay events, for example. The use of social media by municipalities for civic engagement and customer service purposes will continue to evolve, while striving to meet the standards of democratic process and good customer service.

Other Means of Contact

In Chatham-Kent, citizens can also use older means to approach elected officials or customer service offices directly.
• Our central telephone number is 519.360.1998.
• The municipal website is at http://www.chatham-kent.ca

Contacting your Mayor or Councillor

• 17 Municipal Councillors represent the collective interests of citizens in five municipal wards – to contact your Mayor or Councillor, visit the Mayor and Council page.
• For information on appearing before Municipal Council or a Council Committee as a deputation, visit the How to Prepare for Council page.
• All the agendas and decisions of Council are posted on the Council Meetings page.
• More questions? Go to Frequently Asked Questions

Contacting Customer Service

The Municipality of Chatham-Kent provides a wide variety of local government services and programs and has walk-in customer service centres across Chatham-Kent. Your request or concern can often be efficiently dealt with as part of regular service.

• Visit CK Customer Service
• E-mail CKinfo@chatham-kent.ca

Thanks for the opportunity to take part in this stimulating discussion!

Sincerely – Brian Worrall, Communications, Chief Administrative Office, Municipality of Chatham-Kent (ckcommunications@chatham-kent.ca)

Gerry Wolting, General Manager of Corporate Services with the Municipality of Chatham-Kent has started a discussion called “2012 CK Municipal Budget Forum” on the social network InCK.ca at http://inck.ca/groups/general-discussion-topics/forum/topic/2012-ck-municipal-budget-forum-2/

Cheers,
Brian Worrall, Communications, Municipality of Chatham-Kent