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.

We're excited to announce that SeeClickFix has been named One of America's most Promising Start-Ups by Business Week.

Read the article here

People have said that we look like a boy band...we would like to be called the Bad Street Boys if it has to go that way. Get It?

The future of the local social web lies at the confluence of two emerging realities: Government 2.0 and Media 2.0. Here we see social networking tools, user-centered design, wikis, blogs, and mashups being used to create novel networks and platforms that enable a new civic reality: Community 2.0.

Read Jennifer McFadden's Post on Coummunity 2.0 and SeeClickFix on Smarter Planet here:

Potholes, Crosswalk Needed, No Lighting, Bike Rack Needed, Rough Rail Crossing, Standing Water, Abandoned Vehicles and Broken Park Drinking Fountains were all reported as needing to be fixed in Louisville Kentucky over the past few weeks.

The City's MetroCall 311 center has responded to all of these issues reported to them through SeeClickFix with work-order numbers generated from their existing service request system.

Check Out Louisville here

Want your Gov to respond to your SeeClickFix issues like Louisville? Create a watch area for them at http://www.seeclickfix.com/government

Don't wait for open government, create it!

Last night I was live on air with Adriel Hampton, GovLoop Founder Steve Ressler, Steve Lundsford and Andrew Greenhill from the City of Tucson.

The Show is here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/gov20/2009/12/07/government-20-radio

Neighborhood Watch 2.0

Another day, another mugging in a city. However, now citizens have a tool they can use to self-organize, crowdsource solutions to the problem, reach out to relevant public officials, create neighborhood watches, and inform the police.

Last night there was another in what has become a string of muggings at the corner of Olive and Court Streets in New Haven. The incident occurred around 6:00 pm and by 7:30 there was an issue opened on SeeClickFix (http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/10256). As of this posting, 45 people have commented on the thread.

As reported in a story in The New Haven Independent, poor lighting in the area is contributing to the proliferation of crime in the area (http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/11/ashley_kremzer.php). The problem was first acknowledged in SeeClickFix a month ago (http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/9603.html) and over 133 citizens have joined the conversation to voice concern over the significant public safety issue that has arisen.

Surfing through the comments provides insight into the ways that SeeClickFix can be used to rally support around an issue and engage with government. Several citizens have posted contact information for the New Haven Police Department and Mayor’s office. Others have suggested that citizens form neighborhood watches and attend the Mayor’s open house this evening en masse to discuss the issue. Email alerts have been sent to the Mayor’s office, the Downtown-Wooster Square Management Team, the Downtown-Wooster Square Policing District, and the New Haven Police Department.

And the collective action is beginning to have an impact. Wes on Wooster wrote:

I emailed Mike Piscitelli this afternoon and soon got a return call. He was very supportive and assured me that a number of departments are aware and working on the situation. He also said that a few suspects have just been caught.

I hope that everyone will show up at the neighborhood meeting on the 16th. In the meantime, I hope the NHPD will station a patrol car or unmarked during the evening hours to curtail this dangerous criminal activity.

After an email alert was sent to Alderman Smart’s office, he has jumped into the conversation, acknowledging that the muggings pose a serious public safety issue and that resolution is top on his list of priorities. The Alderman has already contacted the City Engineer to advocate for increased lighting in the neighborhood that will help mitigate the problem in the long-run.

The Wooster Square Block Watch has been intensely involved in advocating for lighting in the area, using SeeClickFix as a tool for rallying support. According to The New Haven Independent, their voices are being heard—the group has a meeting with Traffic Chief Mike Piscitelli and other city officials scheduled for Dec. 16th.

It is amazing to see the positive feedback loop that is being created by the interaction between SeeClickFix and local media outlets in New Haven. Issues are being uploaded on SeeClickFix, The New Haven Independent and The New Haven Register are then jumping onto the thread to source stories, the stories are being used as rallying cries on SeeClickFix to gather support to have the problem fixed, and the increased citizen participation is being conveyed to government officials via email. With coverage on the major news sites, citizens then become more aware of the fact that they have a platform for voicing their concerns to local government officials—and that the officials are actually listening.

As Plato said, “the city is what it is because our citizens are what they are.” When the citizens are vocal, action will follow. Pretty powerful stuff.

-Post Written by Jeniffer McFadden