The Gazette forums made news last weekend when it was revealed that Union-Scioto board member Chad Cunningham had proferred his resignation, only to pull it days later, after claims that he was threatened with an ethics charge because of comments he made there.
There was a lot of debate right before the May 8 election when the Waverly school levy threads got a little out of hand, but this is an entirely new playing field.
As far as we're concerned, any public official that wants to answer - whether anonymously or under their own name - questions or comments from our readers/posters can do so. Cunningham's choice was to use part of his e-mail address in an effort to prove that it was him. He deserves credit for reaching out to a whole new audience - one that can be unforgivingly candid and sometimes cruel.
Thanks to technology, government has another way to reach out to its residents (or our readers) to answer questions, squash bad information and further the openness of government. Chats and forums are just a few of the ways to do this.
In fact, we'll open a forum thread to any school district - particularly those who have ballot issues coming up - who wants to engage in a controlled chat about the district and its finances or any other issue. This type of chat can help the districts (or any other governmental body) keep people involved and informed.
There was a lot of debate right before the May 8 election when the Waverly school levy threads got a little out of hand, but this is an entirely new playing field.
As far as we're concerned, any public official that wants to answer - whether anonymously or under their own name - questions or comments from our readers/posters can do so. Cunningham's choice was to use part of his e-mail address in an effort to prove that it was him. He deserves credit for reaching out to a whole new audience - one that can be unforgivingly candid and sometimes cruel.
Thanks to technology, government has another way to reach out to its residents (or our readers) to answer questions, squash bad information and further the openness of government. Chats and forums are just a few of the ways to do this.
In fact, we'll open a forum thread to any school district - particularly those who have ballot issues coming up - who wants to engage in a controlled chat about the district and its finances or any other issue. This type of chat can help the districts (or any other governmental body) keep people involved and informed.
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