Is the City Keeping You Informed?

Here’s a question: do think the city communicates effectively with residents?

 If you think everything is College Park is just great, your answer is probably “Yes.”

However, if you often find yourself asking questions like, “Whose idea was this?” “How much is this going to cost?” “Who’s going to pay?” “Why here?” And, “Why am I just hearing about this now?” in regard to the city’s approach to development, infrastructure projects, or the way it responds to perennial issues like crime, your answer is probably “No.”

Another question: If you answered “No” to the first question, then what should the city do to improve the way it communicates with residents?

This is a good question, and despite the complaints I’ve been hearing about the city’s inability to keep residents in the know, there doesn’t seem to be much consensus on what should be done to make that happen.

This is not to say that the city’s critics should shut up or that the status quo is perfect, for, undoubtedly, there’s room for improvement. In fact, in the recent Patch article “,” District 1 Councilmember Patrick Wojahn admitted that the city’s website—one of its main tools for communicating with residents—could use an upgrade.

 “I think our city’s website still needs a lot of work,” Wojahn said. “But not just as a tool to attract new businesses, but as a more user-friendly tool for residents.”

The article went on to say that “Wojahn also suggested exploring how the city could use social media tools like Facebook and Twitter to keep residents informed about what’s going on in College Park.”

In this time of tight budgets, it seems social media could be on inexpensive step in the right direction, and not just in terms of tweets or texts from the city to residents about traffic problems or escaped convicts on the loose. A city Facebook page or Twitter account could make City Council meetings much more interactive—especially now that they’re streamed live over the Web. Just imagine city officials responding to a question via Facebook from someone who couldn’t be there to pose it in person ... Hey, if WAMU (88.5 FM) talk-show hosts can do it, why can’t we?

In fairness to the city, though, effective communication is a two-way street, yet no one seems to be talking about residents’ responsibility to be informed. Why this is so, I can’t say. What I can say, however, is that if residents want to know what’s happening in College Park then they should do the following (in conjunction):

 1) Read Patch, of course.

2) Read the “Municipal Scene” in the Gazette each week.

3) Visit the city’s website on a regular basis, including the “Departments” page.

4) Attend City Council meetings, or, failing that, get in touch with your representative to find out what’s on the agenda.

5) Attend neighborhood association meetings, or, failing that, get in touch with the association’s president to find out the issues are (Note: city council members and the mayor are often in attendance).

6) If you have one, join your neighborhood’s e-mail list.

In closing, although I can’t say that if you do these things you’ll know about everything going on in College Park. What I can tell you, though, is that I do them and, so far, they’ve served me well.

Smith is a resident of north College Park and treasurer of the North College Park Citizens Association. You can find more of his writing at www.ncpinformant.com.