All Lehigh Valley Mayors and Execs have communications officers whose job is to inform the public. This has become especially important now that daily newspapers are declining and rarely attend (or even watch) most municipal meetings. In addition to news releases, there are always promises of Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Twitter posts. Most of the time, those posts are unseen and unread. I do watch mu
nicipal meetings on Youtube. There's very little interaction with the public unless some hot-button issue arises. And then, it's never clear if the people speaking are just some vocal minority or really represent the views of the public at large. Recently, Houston came up with an idea that permits local government to interact with the public - kiosks.
Each kiosk will be a WiFi hotspot that works up to 75' away. That's something many members of the public will appreciate. There will be pockets of Internet access throughout the city.
The kiosk also will provide information to the public. In NorCo, for example, information regarding COVID-19 testing sites could be posted. Information concerning job openings or taxes could be programmed. It could possibly be programmed to permit you to pay your tax bill. In the event of a severe weather emergency, the kiosk could send out warnings. It also could help with directions and points of interest.
In addition to permitting a municipality to speak to you, it could also be programmed so that you could complete surveys or post suggestions for improvement.
In Northampton County, these kiosks would be most helpful in underserved areas like Bangor or Bethlehem's south side.
Since NorCo is getting $30 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, this is something it should consider.
6 comments:
We recently had a hot button topic, and a committee member who wanted to drag heals instead of making a decision suggested a poll be taken of the public. That was done via an internet method, and advertisements were made it was being done. After the results came in, the Solicitor, a well seasoned municipal advisor, advised against putting much weight on the poll. He stated that the elected officials have the right to enact reasonable regulations to protect the citizens, and that is what he would reach for if a challenge were made in court - not a poll that (for example) showed that 40% of the citizens in a sample showed support. In other words, a judge may say that 40% is not a majority if the poll is used as a justification, but if the supervisory body decides that some portion of citizens are being negatively impacted they have the power to enact an ordinance to protect them.
So, the utility of polls is limited.
This seems and sounds great. But I get this eerie big brother vibe from it. And I'll probably be the first one to use it.
Anybody who trusts sensitive personal information to a wireless transmission protocol managed by the lowest or best connected county bidder, deserves to have their identity stolen. Our county could screw up cans and string.
He would rather give money to increase an HR salary and give the person more work so it can be used as an excuse why you don't returned phone calls when asked why your phone call from 2 weeks ago wasn't returned. Call again and still no return phone call. Perhaps the salary increase should have been used for an additional HR person that does have time to return phone calls for the taxpayer salary they get.
A public Wi-Fi hotspot for anyone to use? I’m assuming the service will be free. Surely nothing can possibly go wrong with that lol
I can imagine all sorts of lowlifes who don’t have data service on their phones or limited data gathering around the 75 feet circumference and doing who knows what with their phones not to mention some thief trying to exploit the system. Yup, seems like a great idea to me
What a great idea! I can now park my car with tinted windows close by to these things, pull out my phone and navigate to my porn site of choice and get off in the privacy of my car using the city’s internet. Only in America.
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