A while back we discussed some ways to improve public participation in Oklahoma City.  I think some good ideas came out of the discussion and have been hoping that the ideas would be considered at City Hall.  Still, often it is hard to tell whether the decision-makers take note of this blog, or anything else posted on the internet for that matter (except you Steve, we know they read OKCCentral).   I have often wondered if time spent writing formal letters and making phone calls would be more effective at getting things done, but abandoned this course of action because 1. it is boring 2. lacks transparency and 3. feel that the web is a superior medium for communicating ideas.  Ultimately, it will have to be the decision-makers that adapt to the new ways of communicating with constituents that are made possible by the web.  And some of OKC’s decision-makers are already ahead of the game!  I must say that I was quite pleased when Russell Claus, Director of the Oklahoma City Planning Department, dropped by the site to contribute to the discussion with the following comment:

Duly noted. ensuring a better web site is a high priority of mine, and a lot of your suggestions coincide with my own ideas for improvement. But, as you would appreciate, spare staff time to manage this is at an extreme premium. I’m trying to rectify this with the addition of an outreach position, something I’ve included in my last 3 years budget requests. I consider an effective citizen communications program an essential for any planning department and hopefully, I can make that happen soon. I apologize for the deficiencies in the interim. Thanks for everyone’s input

I consider Russell a good friend.  I had the pleasure of interning under him in the Planning Department’s Urban Redevelopment Division and think the city did well to promote him to Director.  I believe him when he says that these things are a priority and look forward to seeing public participation improve during his tenure.  With the challenges of implementing new systems and hiring new people at a time when the economy is hurting and municipalities are having to shrink budgets, we may have to wait a while to see all of this come about.

In the meantime, I will again offer to map the agenda items for free (as I did in the comments on 1/15):

I will definitely pledge to make a Google map of every agenda from this point forward in 2009 if the city will give me the information in a spreadsheet format I can use…

I think this single change could make for a significant improvement and lead to a number of new participants in the public process.  Though admittedly, depending on how the information is currently formatted, preparing the information in the spreadsheet may require city staff time that is just not available.

Either way, when city leaders enter into a dialagoue with consituents – be it in person or online – public participation can only be improved.  So thank you Mr. Claus!