DC Mayor Anthony Williams' Blog

Oh it's true, the Mayor of Washington, D.C. has his very own, dc.gov hosted blog. Matt from John Corzine's camp just gave me the heads up on it. Only two posts up on it so far, but from what I can tell, Williams is a big Yoda fan. He does sorta have a Yoda thing going for himself too, sorta.

He's posted on how he will actually try to answer questions and do some real customer service

Second, the blog is not a service request line. Then again, I'm a public servant and you're the boss and you can use blog for whatever damn thing you like. And you can expect me to refer service requests to the proper agencies for disposition. I'll also give you a comment on the policy implications of your request. You say jump and I'll ask how high.

But it would be really helpful if you would call 727-1000, or write dc.gov. Get a tracking number. And if the service isn't helpful, let me know by sharing with me your tracking number. Giving me information on what, where, why and how is helpful. Making an expressive but not very helpful comment on ignorant public officials or employees isn't.

He got fifty comments on his first post and twenty-three on his second post both filled with criticizm, praise, service requests and general complaining.

Can you imagine blog.mayor.phila.gov? A pic of Street's 'fro in the upper right and hundreds of comments on every post complaining about everything there is to comlain about under the sun that shines on Philly. Oh man.

How many more will jump on the blog bandwagon? Is a blog an effective way to communicate with one's constituents? How much can we expect to be done after leaving a comment on the Mayor's blog? And when does s/he shut down the service request once the entire city finds out about the blog and innundates it with requests that cannot and will not be answered?

Comments

[Sam]

He does sorta have a Yoda thing going for himself too, sorta.

You mean he sorta looks like Yoda? I agree.

[albert]

Yep, that's what I'm sayin.

[KT]

I don't know if I really believe that my mayor will actually be reading, writing, or responding to anything on that blog. And if he is taking the time to do so, I might wonder about his priorities. In other news, did you hear about Ladner?