ward3brighton.ca

Last spring I quietly followed the steps to have Charlottetown listed on FixMyStreet.ca, a service maintained by Visible Government which is “a Canadian non-profit that promotes online tools for government transparency.” All that was required was an ESRI shapefile defining the geographic borders of each city ward (helpfully provided by a friend with friends at Elections PEI) and the names and email addresses of each councillor. I’d actually forgotten all about it until someone tweeted about a similar service and I responded. There have since been three reports logged in as many days (and I’ve since noticed the shapefile contains an older version of ward boundaries so we’re trying to get the new ones Fixed).

There’s nothing magic about the service. You could pick up the phone or sit at your keyboard and convey the complaint to your councillor or city staff in private. But reports that are logged on FixMyStreet.ca are publicly visible and other people can subscribe to reports of problems they would like to see fixed. Reports with many subscribers appear to be pushed above the fold into the Top Problems category, presumably to provide extra incentive for officials and staff to act. It’s simple, but provides a level of transparency and accountability that people appreciate.

Since being elected to council I’ve noticed a distinct lack of any complaint tracking system, paper, electronic or otherwise. Complaints and requests and questions arrive in various formats — email, phone, letters — and are routed to someone thought to be in a position to deal with it. But I often get complaints of buck passing, unhelpfulness, lack of follow up, issues falling through the cracks, etc. A city our size, providing the number of services that it does, needs a proper way to log, delegate and track issues that have been raised. I’ve had discussions with staff about implementing a proper CRM (Citizen Request Management) system and arranged for a demonstration of one product last year. There appears to be interest in pursuing the idea, at least among senior staff, and I hope to convince my fellow councillors of the same.

FYI to councillors and staff in Cornwall, Stratford and Summerside; the shapefiles I provided also contained the data for your municipalities so the FixMyStreet.ca people took the liberty of setting you up too.

UPDATE: Josh Biggley wrote a nice piece at Spacing Atlantic yesterday about government transparency and accountability. FixMyStreet.ca is mentioned. Josh reported a pothole on Beach Grove Rd. using FixMyStreet and I just noticed this on Twitter:

Josh Biggley, writing at the excellent new Spacing Atlantic blog, makes the case for another farmer’s market in Charlottetown. The market on Belvedere Avenue is, by some measures, a victim of its own considerable success. Josh believes the market will support another market and invites readers to post their suggestions on a collaborative Google Map. Read his article and if you agree, weigh in with your suggestion on the map.

I’m happy to see UPSE president Shelley Ward questioning the wisdom of moving two provincial government departments out of the capital city. Clearly the union membership is not pleased. I also spoke out against this move when it was announced. It’s bad for Charlottetown; it will disrupt the lives of many involved; and will only create a new commuter class of employees who travel to and fro across the island everyday while providing little economic impact for the target communities.

I recently received a package in my mailbox at City Hall from the Church of Scientology International. It was addressed specifically to me. I’m not aware of any other councillors receiving the same package which makes me wonder, “why me?”. There’s a short note from President Heber Jentzsch outlining the virtues of Scientology and a DVD “with 80 broadcast-quality videos”.

Scientology DVD

I haven’t taken the wrapper off the DVD yet, but if Tom Cruise himself agrees to come to Charlottetown and make a movie I’ll… um, take the wrapper off. Actually, I plan to watch it out of shear sheer curiosity, but I’m not quite ready to sell my Thetan to Xenu just yet.

I read Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography a few months back, mostly because it was available for free as an ebook on my iPod. As one of “those who govern”, I found this little bit of wisdom interesting:

Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forc’d by the occasion.

It sounds like a more sophisticated way of stating what is now an old corporate-speak cliché: be proactive, not reactive.

Council gets lobbied occasionally on specific issues by specific groups, but usually on a reactive, issue by issue basis. Volunteer boards will coordinate email and phone campaigns during the budget process to make the case for their grant requests; the Advocates for This Park or Friends of That Park can be very forceful in making their preferences known; members of business groups and other outside agencies are appointed to City advisory boards to protect their interests, etc. But the bulk of the communication we get, at least that I get, is from individuals with their individual ideas, opinions, requests and complaints.

Earlier this evening, during a chat initiated through the “Chat with Rob” feature on this blog (which is becoming more and more popular), my anonymous chat partner — known only to me as the person who comments on the Guardian website as “PFA” — directed me to scaledown.ca, a blog that aims to “promote the cultural identity, social fabric and economic prosperity of Windsor, Ontario through open discussion and grass-roots advocacy.”

While scanning that site I found this post about the formation of a Downtown Resident Association. While we do have Downtown Charlottetown Inc. here, it is very much business oriented. Although I don’t live downtown myself, I do work there and I live close enough to feel I have a stake in its continued vitality and livability, so I find the idea of a group like this very appealing, both from my points of view as a resident and a councillor. As the author of the post points out:

If we go to the decision makers to voice our opinions, visions, and complaints by ourselves, we likely aren’t going to get anywhere. But one unified voice representing many – that’s power in any democratic setting. 

In fact, I’d welcome any number of associations that could engage and advise council. There are many talented and creative people who, speaking as one voice, could influence council to make better, more progressive, more informed decisions. How about the Charlottetown Amateur Urban Planners Association?