Online discussion boards

This blog is an experiment for us as a City--how can we provide interesting, useful information to our residents in an innovative format? One that welcomes feedback and adds something extra to the presentation? This is an important communication strategy for us. Along those same lines, our Community Development department has started using online discussion boards to gather input from residents about various issues. The first discussion board revolved around the Comprehensive Plan our City has been in the process of revising and adopting this year. The newest discussion board is more general and seeks comments, questions, and opinions on a variety of City-related subjects. It asks residents to weigh in on subjects like small business assistance; free wireless Internet in West Des Moines; your opinions on our new housing stock and the ordinances related to it; your feelings on street design and the importance of function and aesthetics. It even asks for suggestions for names for the future Highway 5 and Southwest Connector. Informal polls will be featured on this site, and residents will have the chance to ask their own questions or suggest discussion forums they'd like to see addressed.

I think this is a great move toward involving you more in our City processes and decisions. While it's impossible to get a vote or solicit input from everyone on every issue, we can open up these kinds of gateways for citizen interaction and involvement. Please take a look at this discussion board and provide your opinions, or comment here with other kinds of issues you would like to see discussed.