Opinion: Want to rethink that?

North side

I’ve been biting my tongue for several weeks now, it’s time to unleash a bit…

Thanks to AngryWhiteBoy for pointing this out:

httpsv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOU7NthjM6c

I think instead of droning on and on and on and on and on…..

I have one question for Deputy Mayor Beth Malloy and the City of Fort Wayne:

 

Do you still think engaging the citizens with social media tools is a good idea?

 

Granted, some of my fellow bloggers are no doubt responsible for bringing this to life, and in a way, I salute them. But I think if you’d asked any who deal with social media on a daily basis, we all would have told you, ‘Don’t do it!!!!’  But, it’s too late for that, I guess. All that’s left is to sit back and say, ‘I told you so”:

…do City employees and the Administration really want to hear what we residents are thinking? And more importantly, will time be taken to respond appropriately? If you start soliciting responses from residents, you’d better be prepared for what you receive.

and

… I don’t think the City has thought through the ramifications of the social media thing.

The saddest thing about this is that we took a popular Mayor who accomplished much for this City, and was undoubtedly one of those local urban legends that every city has but which usually remain relatively unknown to the outside, and opened him up for exposure and ridicule on a national and even world wide level.

Before you say it, I do have a sense of humor.  In fact, I am laughing right now.  But not at poor Harry Baals, who through no fault of his own was given a humorous moniker, but at the bungling of this entire mess, started by a faulty desire to do something good.

Lesson to be learned?  Get outside of the 9th floor, outside of the City-County Building and talk to people, average citizens, before you implement another scheme such as this that brought us another proud moment in the guise of a Jimmy Kimmel ‘High Horse Moment of the Night’.

Related Images:

2009/02/27: Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry 2009/02/27: Mayor Tom Henry shakes hands with Allen County Councilman Paul Moss 2009/02/27: Fort Wayne City Council President Tom Smith 2009/02/27: Fort Wayne City Councilman Tim Pape 2009/02/27: Allen County Councilman Paul Moss 2009/02/27: Dr. John Crawford and son Grant 2009/05/01: Mayor Tom Henry 2009/05/01: Mayor Tom Henry 2009/05/01: Mayor Tom Henry 2009/05/01: Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell 2009/05/01: City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner 2009/05/01: Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell Harrison Street Explored Illustration 2009/06/02: Mayor Tom Henry 2009/06/02: Kumar Menon

1 COMMENT

  1. It’s a ruse. It’s window dressing. It’s the appeance of transparency. It’s a lie.

    This was an excercise in appearing to ask the great unwashed, ignorant taxpayers for their valuable input, all the while, the decision has already been made. We saw this with the Harrison Square project, as well as the Calhoun Street “redesign”, where contracts and plans were already in place before City Council even voted.

    This is how things operate on the 9th floor. The great decision will be handed down to us ignorant and superfulous taxpayers, and like the Harrison condos, Calhoun Street, and now this building name, we’ll learn to live with it.

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