vision2020
dissemination of information
Dearest friends,
I would like to thank Mr. Sarff for bringing this topic up. we did discuss
the subject at the meeting today and I have felt that we have to improve our
dissemination methods greatly. at the technical director of the City of
Moscow allow me to fill you in on some of my planed improvements in this
area.
CH13 - as many of you know the channel 13 on the TV is a dedicated channel
for the city to broadcast information over. for a long time the PowerPoint
presentation would crash and the channel was down often. I have remedied the
problem and we have had the system up for about a month now without any
problems.
Council - as you may also know we broadcast the council meetings over this
channel. but the quality of the broadcast has been very poor. we are in the
process of upgrading the audio/video system and should have the project done
before summer. you should notice a noticeable improvement.
Web - thanks to our new member of the city staff Brant who is the assistant
to the city manager (Gary) our web-site is being fixed so that the
hyperlinks actually work! he has been a great asset. Brant and I will be
creating a whole new site with different organization and distinct looks for
different departments. we always welcome your suggestions since the site is
for you.
Simulcast - as many of you know I was involved in developing and donating
the UofI sport web-cast system now in use; it is my hope to develop a
similar site for the city where the meetings are broadcasted over the web
for you to see and also respond to. eventually I hope to be able to allow
citizen participation via web for the meetings. it seems to me that it is
easier for us to sit in our living rooms and being involved in our
government than have to physically go to the meetings. I hope that more
involvement is resulted by this.
1912 - as many of you know the main floor of the 1912 building is planned to
be a community center. as Linda Pall stated in our meeting this morning this
space is hoped to be a place of gathering for the members of our society to
get together and discuss issues. on the second floor a lounge is planned
where we hope to have several computer systems available for everyone to
use. these systems will be on the city network and will have access to
increasing amount of information as time goes by.
Archiving - we are working to start the process of digitizing and archiving
the city information for easy access over an IP network.
City network - I welcome you to view the comprehensive plan I wrote last
year with the network diagram on the city web-site www.Moscow.id.us under
the heading of city departments and services click on information technology
or click here: http://www.moscow.id.us/IT/IT.htm .
Please let me know if I can clarify or explain any technology happenings at
the city. I am very involved with many different aspects of development in
the city and would love to hear from the friends about how we could serve
you better. as I have said before the staff at the city is working very hard
to make some fundamental changes. due to the foresight of mayor Marshall
Comstock, city supervisor Gary Riedner, and the city council we are
revolutionizing the way the city works.
I am certain I speak for everyone at the city when I say that we are here to
serve you and would love to hear your needs and suggestions. I had to go
around the city departments and find out their needs before I designed the
city network; now that we are building it I need to know your needs as well
so the above mentioned projects enhance citizen participation and the
democratic process.
Your brother in arms,
Shahab...
----- Original Message -----
From: "david sarff" <davesway@hotmail.com>
To: <vision2020@moscow.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2000 9:32 PM
Subject: Vision Meeting
James Madison said this:
"A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of
acquiring it, is
but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps, both.
Knowledge will forever
govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors
must arm
themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
Letter to W. T. Barry, August 4, 1822 (Madison, 1865, III, page
276)
After attending a meeting of concerned citizens about the future of our
little pocket of the world, I felt that the above statement might apply
somewhat to the consensus. I was overall pleased with the outcome.
I look forward to some sort of benefit for the community as a result.
I understand that several folks felt that most of the discussion was just a
rehash of the same old stuff.
There was also some apprehension about the reality that information gathered
and compiled might likely get shelved, as often it happens. Their concern is
a valid one. As a kid growing up in Moscow I remember reading and hearing
about things like comprehensive plans and future planning struggles. As a
young adult I felt that the town was not getting its act together and so
opted to head out of town a bit, to stay out of the fray and leave the city
life to the people who prefer that sort of surrounding.. And at the same
time still keep a sense of place. .Bad choice.
It became clear that even living a few miles out of town, it still left me
affected by what I consider inappropriate growth patterns.
Being outside of the city limits pretty much leaves a person out of the
representation process of town,
unless of course it involves the subjects like the Impact Zone that the City
and County share.
This particular server list has become a medium where I have been able to
share at least some of the old
sense of place and concern for the future that I and others seem to believe
in retaining .
The face-to-face meeting Saturday was another step in the process of what I
consider a search for a better cross representation of the populace.
My hope is that a more effective means of acquiring popular information and
providing it to those who govern will contribute to a healthy vibrant future
community.
As a new spring season is soon returning .Seeds have been planted.May
they get all they need to flower and fruit.
David Sarff
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