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New Year, Renewed Commitment to Communication
(as printed in the Arlington Advocate 1/24/08)
One of the more important functions of local government is maintaining effective communications with its citizens. As Town officials, we need to keep citizens informed on Town activities, projects, policy issues, and challenges. At the same time, we need to provide avenues for citizens to communicate with its government, to provide input on important issues, and to conveniently submit service requests for a timely response.
The Board of Selectmen and I recognize that we can and need to do a better job at communicating with our citizens. The Board established as one of its goals, improvement in such communications. The Board and I have taken a number of steps to improve communications this past year and will continue to do so in the new year. This column, which will be published periodically, is just one of the steps to keep the public informed on Town activities and issues. Let’s start with communications itself.
This past year, we have made a concerted effort to upgrade the Town’s website, arlingtonma.gov, by periodically auditing existing content, providing more up-to-date information, and seeking ways to better manage our ever expanding archive of Town information. Toward that end, we’ll launch a redesigned arlingtonma.gov web site this week. The improved site will provide users with easier navigation and an updated look that will make it easier for users to find the information they want. Next month we’ll introduce an online customer service that will allow residents to search an extensive knowledgebase of Town information, make service requests for Town services, and enable them to track their service requests online, 24/7.
The web site was already a very effective resource. Last year, arlingtonma.gov was presented with an E-Gov Award from Common Cause, a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to holding elected officials accountable to the public. The award recognized municipalities for their efforts in open government for posting all key governance records on their website. One key record, the budget, is included in the Town’s Annual Report also posted at arlingtonma.gov. This report was recognized by the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) at their annual meeting earlier this month. Arlington placed 2nd in
the MMA’s Annual Town Report contest in category 1, their largest category. The MMA is a statewide organization that brings municipal officials together to work on efficient delivery of services to community residents. We are pleased to be accessible to residents as well as be recognized by these nonpartisan community advocacy groups.
Another communication method the Town has relied on more over the last year is the email distribution of Town Notices, which residents can sign up for on arlingtonma.gov. These notices are timely news and information notices from Town Hall that include public health and public works alerts, election information, office and school closings, trash and recycling alerts, and special Town related events. This communication mechanism is an easy way to receive information from Town Hall and is at little to no cost to the Town. I encourage every Arlington resident to subscribe to Town Notices. Additionally, there are other email lists that may be of interest to residents including: School Committee and Selectmen agendas, Recreation Notices, Park & Field conditions and more. To sign up for the service, simply go to arlingtonma.gov and click ”Subscribe to Notices.”
The Town also implemented a Reverse 911 system in 2007 to alert residents via telephone in the event of an emergency or to pass along a message of importance. The Reverse 911 system allows the Town to communicate to the entire Town or just sections of it, instantly or over a period of days. Because there are costs associated with an instant Town-wide Reverse 911 call, this service will be used for emergencies only. However, there is no cost if the calls are spread out over days or targeted to a small area. The service can be used in this way for important messages that are not an emergency. The system has only been used a few times to-date, but has already proved helpful:
· in alerting residents who were directly affected by a recent water main break on Mill Street.
· in informing the entire Town of the one-week extension of yard waste collection in November
· and, more recently, announcing the one-day delay in the collection of refuse due to a snowstorm.
However, no new service is not without its challenges. We have noted that not all residents are receiving these calls. This is mostly due to the multiple options for telecommunications. The Town is working with the vendor to address this issue as well as improve the system to best utilize it for resident communications. We will keep you posted on progress in this area.
Over the past year, the Board of Selectmen and others have taken major steps to inform and educate citizens as to the long-range financial challenges confronting the Town and to seek input on ideas and strategies to address these challenges. Toward that goal, the Town held three public forums (summit meetings). The Board of Selectmen, School Committee, the Finance Committee, Superintendent of Schools, department heads, and I worked with interested citizens at these meetings to generate and prioritize ideas about ways to
address the long-range financial challenges we face. For those citizens who could not attend the forums, information was provided at arlingtonma.gov, as was the opportunity to submit comments and ideas online. Many good ideas were generated and are currently being pursued.
The process for community input continues in 2008 with the recently distributed Vision2020 survey. Residents should have received the survey in the mail with the annual Town Census. We are seeking input from the entire citizenry on the relative importance and quality of the services the Town provides. As we look down the road, it’s clear that the Town will be facing some difficult decisions on the budget as soon as the fiscal year 2011 budget, and the gap between revenue and expense projections will only grow thereafter.
While the spending for Arlington, line-item-by-line-item, is among the lowest, compared with other Massachusetts towns of similar size, the revenue growth for Arlington is very low, compared with those same towns. This creates a structural budget problem that the town will have to face, either by cutting into the services we offer or by raising revenue. It’s important for Arlington residents to give us a clear sense of their priorities on the various Town services so that we all can make the best choices for Arlington in the years ahead.
In 2008, we look forward to enhancing the link between Town government and residents. However, to be successful we need the participation of all Arlingtonians. Please join me in opening the lines of communication, complete and return the Vision 2020 Survey, visit arlingtonma.gov and Subscribe to Notices, and look for the new online customer service portal next month. Together we can continue to make Arlington a community to enjoy today and into many new years to come.
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