This was the comment made by an individual only noting himself to be a TC member on an earlier blog entry:
Let's see if I can enlighten some here...
1. In the past several years, no citizens have been before the Technology Commission asking for any type of analog or digital recording or streaming of audio or video.
2. One blogger makes infrequent visits to the Technology Commission meetings but never comments during the citizen comment period. Silence is a virtue, but not when you wish your desires to be known. We aren't mind readers and most of us aren't blog readers!
3. Citizens, to our knowledge, have NOT been beating down the doorsteps of their aldermanic representatives for any recording or streaming of audio or video.
4. I see that several individuals, through their blog postings, are expressing their strong desire for the City to enact digital recording ASAP...and there is criticism of the Technology Commission for not acting quickly...but, again, the bloggers never make an appearance at a Technology Commission meeting to comment about this.
5. While the Technology Commission has had a desire and has shown its own initiative to get this underway in the past, it was shelved because of a lack of budget or a lack of willingness on the part of the alderpersons to implement a $0.15/month "surcharge" on the bills of Time-Warner Cable subscribers in the City. This "surcharge" is allowed by our agreement with Time-Warner as long as it is used for the purpose intended....that being the implementation of a government access channel. At that time (under previous City leadership), no one wanted to implement this perceived tax. These fees would have funded the necessary video broadcast equipment.
6. When the idea for the Time-Warner surcharge was rejected, the Technology Commission put it upon itself to get a scrolling PowerPoint of information on Time-Warner's government access channel for Franklin. This technology (including a computer and operating system license) was donated, integrated, and tested by Technology Commission members.
7. The Technology Commission has worked on many other pressing issues....police, government, GIS, and other systems; ensuring the infrastructure of City Hall is maintained; developing a strategic plan for the IT of the City, etc. We would love to act on every desire of every citizen, but prioritization also needs take place.
8. We don't want to put out solutions that work on a temporary basis or are inadequate. Ideally, any solution that the City would invest in would have utility on the web, on AT&T's broadcast system, and on Time-Warner's cable channel. All of these delivery methods use different technologies and need to be considered to have a viable solution for the citizenry of Franklin....not just for the few tech-savvy bloggers out there.
9. Technology Commission members are not "city officials" as was stated on a blog posting. We are volunteers who provide our experience and insight to a City that has no IT staff. We don't get paid, we don't get any mileage or reimbursed expenses, and we don't get invited to the City staff holiday party ;-).
10. I'm sure that I probably speak for most Commission members when I say that the pace of movement on any technology issue at the City is much, much slower than in our "day jobs." But, there also has to be an understanding that we are not full-time City staff and our once-a-month meetings, along with the necessary quorums, consensus-building, and governmental process is something that we have little control over. I'd love to say, "Make it so!" and have everything implemented immediately.
11. A blog post here says "The heat must be turned up on the Technology Commission". Sadly, no one spoke up at the Commission's meeting tonight, or last month, or the month before that, or the 25 meetings before that! If you want to apply heat, show up and speak up!
12. Lastly, I would encourage anyone, including the bloggers, to apply as a volunteer for a City Commission of their desire, including the Technology Commission. It is a rewarding experience and allows you to "give back" to your City, even if others criticize your work.
Recent Comments