Guerilla Democracy gets Solar Lamp Posts and Saves a piece of History

Two hot issues on SeeClickFix have yielded interesting results this week.

The First an issue of lighting and Public Safety. The Second an issue of saving a piece of history at the Train Station.

Wooster Square Residents who have been rallying for better lighting at the Entrance to their neighborhood were rewarded for their collaborative push to get their voices heard by City Hall on SeeClickFix.

The New Haven Independent reports today that the Mayor, Lt Sweeney and CAO Robert Smuts met with residents to announce that they will be installing the first solar lights at the location where the lack of lighting is causing unrest.

Citizens getting their voices heard in the New Haven Independent and on SeeClickFix has become an important part of an emerging form of community in New Haven where a more direct line to City Hall and each other is creating a stronger democracy.

Here's the NHI Story: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/12/the_first_ever.php

SeeClickFix Issue is here: http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/9603

Residents of the New Haven region are also using SeeClickFix and the publicity from the New Haven Independent to negotiate the preservation of a Solari sign at Union Station with the State of CT DOT. 100's of Citizens have voted to save the sign which the DOT has recently said they will be removing for a digital sign. In response to all the clatter the New Haven Independent announced that State DOT Rep Kevin Nursick has proposed keeping the sign in train station as a decorative reminder of the analog days while replacing its functionality with the Digital Sign.

While this might not be the fix for all residents its a great sign (no pun intended) that citizens are able to press a negotiation with a State Agency that is often complained of as unresponsive and far distant from citizen concerns.

That article is Here: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/12/dot_suggests_so.php


SeeClickFix issue is here: http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/10494

Whoever said that media was losing its grip as the 4th estate needs to look no further than Hyper Local Capital New Haven for another opinion.