Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Mayor Dave in the blogo-sphere

The Cap Times covers Madison Mayor Dave's blog which is hosted on the city's website.  The article goes on to discuss the issues of politicians and blogging.  Cieslewicz, as mayor, can speak for himself in an official capacity, and the blog's status would be similar to a press release or other communiqué from the mayor's office so long as it sticks to city business.  The mayor doesn't allow comments, but his office has a much higher profile and there are many other avenues for public feedback.  

Of course no one on the school board can speak for the board as a whole, so any blogs should be privately hosted and operated.

I found this quote interesting:
“Some research has shown that whatever a politician’s intention is with the blog, the content will inevitably get him or her into trouble, politically,” she adds.
So far I think I've avoided that fate, despite relentless criticism from some of my colleagues.  I do feel avenues for communication with the public are far more important than any political risk I might run.  

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you have political risk to take? In that I mean, are you running again. Please let us know how to support you--I don't know you but I have appreciated the information and dialogue you bring to the very very closed school board issues

Anonymous said...

what are the "very, very closed school board issues" you refer to, anonymous? and how many board meetings do you go to? and how often do you access our school web site? do you read the herald? alot of people in this district like to complain about the issues but do next to nothing to actually LEARN about them

Doug Wood said...

Peter,

For elected officials like us in low profile positions, the blog helps disseminate information that is otherwise scarce. It also provides an inside perspective. And a blog can help shape the debate.

(I was going to say 'relatively low profile', but then I thought 'relative to what?' and dropped the qualifier.)

I think if we were in a high profile position with greater scrutiny there would be a lot greater risk of stepping in the horse droppings.

BTW, the state attorney general issued an opinion that public officials blogs are public records when they deal with the member's governmental duties.