Well, I'm back!
Thank you, everyone who called the city, for getting my Chattanooga Green account reinstated on greenerchattanooga.com. CG has said it will no longer delete the accounts of citizens who request that the 17 Greener Chattanooga groups be made more inclusive, transparent and accessible to citizens. A group representing our government can't legally censor citizens, especially ones asking that more citizens be allowed to participate through Facebook, email blasts and Twitter, since so many of Chattanooga Green meetings are prior to 5p, thus inconvenient.
I hope you will continue asking for this inclusiveness and transparency to combat the perception that many teams are ineffective, have little citizen representation and are steered by corporate citizens seeking government grants, exceptions and incentives!
Unfortunately, my ability to email friends has been blocked, I've been removed from all my teams, and my hours of research and communications on my teams is erased, including all the links and communications with other members. This is unfortunate, since I have been very active, and head more than one subgroup.
However, all of my postings are on the very active citizens' group, Sustainable Chattanooga, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40783738010.
I've requested that Chattanooga Green put me on all of the 17 citizen teams.
Here is the blog that got me "banned" for those of you who asked to see it: Making Chattanooga Green's Grass Greener
Would you be more likely to participate in one of the city's 17 Chattanooga Green citizen advisory teams, if you could interact through email, Facebook, Twitter, or a real-time, online meeting?
After all, you shouldn't have to lose your voice or vote on a Chattanooga Green team just because you can't make a meeting time that's set during your work hours.
These teams are tasked with advising the mayor how to steward Chattanooga towards a leadership role in sustainability. And I'd hope having a job or kids wouldn't disable your participation.
Also, to avoid all confusion, I think groups dominated by corporate citizens and city bureaucrats should called "corporate citizen" teams, or lobbying groups, not "citizen" teams.
I realize that corporate citizens and bureaucrats are also citizens, but we can all acknowledge that folks in fields such as development or real estate may be perceived as having a profit or political motive for attending. I've noticed these folks also get compensated for attending the teams as business-related functions, thus are adamant about keeping meetings during work hours.
They also have a an awful lot of pet projects that aren't necessarily in the public good, such as incentives and loopholes for developers, including floating mixed-use development zones that trump the land-use plan.
For the purpose of getting more regular citizens, at least two teams are considering using their entire membership lists (of people who signed up) to get input and votes from those who can't make the meetings. The members could get mass mail outs before and after meetings by email and on the social networking sites, thus give their input or vote from home.
These teams will also try to figure out how to have meetings in real time, online (perhaps Skype). That would make these CG meetings more inclusive and transparent.
As a working person, I can no longer attend three of my 4 Chattanooga Green teams and lobbying groups. I've specifically asked that they include the citizens through email before and after decisions, especially decisions in which the mayor is advised on the public's behalf.
I would hate for Chattanooga Green to be perceived as greenwashing, and be used to advance a corporate or political agenda in the name of the green community.
I hope you will continue asking for this inclusiveness and transparency to combat the perception that many teams are ineffective, have little citizen representation and are steered by corporate citizens seeking government grants, exceptions and incentives!
Unfortunately, my ability to email friends has been blocked, I've been removed from all my teams, and my hours of research and communications on my teams is erased, including all the links and communications with other members. This is unfortunate, since I have been very active, and head more than one subgroup.
However, all of my postings are on the very active citizens' group, Sustainable Chattanooga, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40783738010.
I've requested that Chattanooga Green put me on all of the 17 citizen teams.
Here is the blog that got me "banned" for those of you who asked to see it: Making Chattanooga Green's Grass Greener
Would you be more likely to participate in one of the city's 17 Chattanooga Green citizen advisory teams, if you could interact through email, Facebook, Twitter, or a real-time, online meeting?
After all, you shouldn't have to lose your voice or vote on a Chattanooga Green team just because you can't make a meeting time that's set during your work hours.
These teams are tasked with advising the mayor how to steward Chattanooga towards a leadership role in sustainability. And I'd hope having a job or kids wouldn't disable your participation.
Also, to avoid all confusion, I think groups dominated by corporate citizens and city bureaucrats should called "corporate citizen" teams, or lobbying groups, not "citizen" teams.
I realize that corporate citizens and bureaucrats are also citizens, but we can all acknowledge that folks in fields such as development or real estate may be perceived as having a profit or political motive for attending. I've noticed these folks also get compensated for attending the teams as business-related functions, thus are adamant about keeping meetings during work hours.
They also have a an awful lot of pet projects that aren't necessarily in the public good, such as incentives and loopholes for developers, including floating mixed-use development zones that trump the land-use plan.
For the purpose of getting more regular citizens, at least two teams are considering using their entire membership lists (of people who signed up) to get input and votes from those who can't make the meetings. The members could get mass mail outs before and after meetings by email and on the social networking sites, thus give their input or vote from home.
These teams will also try to figure out how to have meetings in real time, online (perhaps Skype). That would make these CG meetings more inclusive and transparent.
As a working person, I can no longer attend three of my 4 Chattanooga Green teams and lobbying groups. I've specifically asked that they include the citizens through email before and after decisions, especially decisions in which the mayor is advised on the public's behalf.
I would hate for Chattanooga Green to be perceived as greenwashing, and be used to advance a corporate or political agenda in the name of the green community.
Views: 1
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Loop Studios on -
Lana,
You still have the ability to email your friends. As a matter of fact, it's not even possible for us to limit that feature. I asked you to please hold off on sending emails to 200+ people at a time till we can explain how the friends system works to some users that are unclear on how you are sending them emails. However, it's completely up to you whether you respect that request or not.
I just looked right now in the groups, and your comments are still there. I can add you back into the groups that you were in, but you'll have to talk to Emmy or Jeremiah with Chattanooga Green about the other groups. -
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Permalink Reply by Lana Sutton on -
I've had no complaints about my emails, except from you. I've had only support since your "rogue staffer" deleted my posts and team conversations week after week, then deleted my entire account after I sent his rude, insulting emails to my "friends" list.
I think people understand that they can get emails from their "friends."
I think many are also starting to understand that this site has actively discouraged citizens, there's very little citizen participation (for several reasons), and this flawed site is the citizens' only authorized way of seeing which leaders the city is setting up for its future Office of Sustainability. This site may be the only way to watchdog what these folks advise the mayor to do on our behalf. Unfortunately, being effective or seeing progress on some of these teams can be very difficult for the average citizen.
Michael said:Lana,
You still have the ability to email your friends. As a matter of fact, it's not even possible for us to limit that feature. I asked you to please hold off on sending emails to 200+ people at a time till we can explain how the friends system works to some users that are unclear on how you are sending them emails. However, it's completely up to you whether you respect that request or not.
I just looked right now in the groups, and your comments are still there. I can add you back into the groups that you were in, but you'll have to talk to Emmy or Jeremiah with Chattanooga Green about the other groups. -
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Permalink Reply by Loop Studios on
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Of course you have support from your friend and followers, that's like saying anti-gun control legislation has support from the NRA. Not exactly a surprise. Those same people of course believe what you tell them because they don't know any other information.
As far as citizen participation goes - that really doesn't have anything to do with this site specifically. We are not here to get people involved in the groups, just to provide an area for online conversations, etc. 99% of Climate Action Team members signed up for their groups here. Getting people involved in a Climate Action Team is not a burden of this site (although I promote it heavily). That's the burden of Chattanooga Green.
This site is not flawed any more so than every other complex social site. I've heard plenty of complements on the site form many parties including regular "citizens" as you say.
I would say seeing progress in government for the average citizen is going to be a slow process no matter what. Most people do not know the process to get things done in a government agency. If you think for a minute that you can just waltz into the Mayor's office and recommend a whole list of things the city needs to do (and spend money on) and it will happen the next day, you are sadly mistaken. The bigger problem here is that 7/10 Chattanooga citizens do not think the way you and I do - they don't care about "green" and see it as a burden. That includes many members of our city council. -
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