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NYC Community Board Member Discusses Wiki, Online Technology, For Local Governance

New York City’s basic administrative unit is the community district. There are 59 districts with populations that range from 46,000 to 242,000. Each district has a community board that the city charter directs to "Consider the needs of the district which it serves." Each board has fifty members appointed by the elected borough president.

Thomas Lowenhaupt has been a member of Queens Community Board 3 since 1992. Through email Thomas answered the questions below.

What are you trying to do with the wiki and other online technology, blogs, websites etc.?

As a community board member for 14 years, I’ve concluded that one of the boards’ key limitations arises from the city’s basic communication infrastructure. Because NYC’s media focus is regional, national, or global its residents are unaware of such fundamentals as the board that serves them. And boards can’t effectively communicate with those they serve.

When presenting the need for improved local communication resources to fellow New Yorkers, I describe my experiences as an undergraduate student in Terre Haute, Indiana. The following chart summarizes the differences in dedicated resources for Terre Haute and Community District 3:

Terre Haute (and county) Queens Community

District 3

Population 105,000 170,000

Television Stations 2 0

Daily Newspapers 1 0

Radio Stations 8 0

Yes, we are world’s communications capital with more TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, cable… than anywhere else. But this doesn’t do diddley for community boards. The "capitals" communication resources are focused on the region and world, not local concerns. The mundane daily needs of a community are of no interest to the capital media. The U.S. mail is the channel most commonly used by community boards. In this regard my board is typical — we have a $1,200 postage budget.

The Internet provides the first real opportunity for meeting the district’s communication needs. Board 3 started using a website two years ago to address local needs. The site was initiated, developed, and is maintained by the volunteer efforts of the board’s members. We receive no part of the city’s $50 billion budget. (Under the Giuliani administration Community Board 3’s site was the "Prototype Community Board Website Development Project" and we were two jet planes away from funding.)

What has been done so far?

Board 3’s website is at ht
tp://www.cb3qn.nyc.gov. In June 2005 we had 6,150 visits. But many of these come from search engines that have our map page and LaGuardia Airport highlighted. Too few local residents visit. Only 39 residents have signed up as active members of the site. We built the website and no one came. We’re also developing a Great Tree Hunt Game to attract youth to the site. It’s awaiting a quality GPS element. See here.

What specifically are you trying to do with the Beyond Voting wiki?

At one level I initiated the wiki to discern ways to improve the website. But more fundamentally, I was looking for ways to improve the efficacy of community and the community board. People will only invest time in a governance website if there’s impact, and as currently structured, the community boards have little impact.

For info on the community board’s duties see http://www.cb3qn.nyc.gov/?p=1645.

For info on the history of community boards see http://www.cb3qn.nyc.gov/?p=1654.

After 14 years as a board member (Queens Board 3) I’ve concluded 99 percent of all good ideas for improving a community reside with the public. But bureaucratic black holes have consumed so many that most citizens are persuaded that participation is fruitless. In a general sense, the BeyondVoting Wiki’s role is to explore ways to better engage the public in the governance process. BeyondVoting uses the wiki’s uncomplicated editing tools to create an open and transparent environment for participation in the governance process. Most optimistically, the wiki will magically transform a black hole into a magnet. We want people to see their ideas out there, making a difference.

But before a wiki to work at the community board level, the responsibilities and capabilities of the board need an impact boost. The BeyondVoting Wiki demonstrates the features of a wiki while gathering ideas for enhancing the community board’s capabilities.

On BeyondVoting we’ve had over 3,500 visitors to our front page since its March initiation. But only 12 have contributed in a positive way. This I attribute to the arcane subject matter and my not having yet reached governance policy types. We’re reaching out to community boards and government and governance scholars this fall.

And we’ve had five spammers. In each instance they’ve added links to the wiki. While the Mediawiki software allows the administrator to restrict access to members who’ve signed up, we’re testing the magnitude of the spam problem by allowing open access to the editing tools. And with spam reversal as simple as a click to the revert button, the solution might be in organizing round the clock monitors, with change messages emailed to the one on duty.

During its current phase BeyondVoting is being managed at arms length to explore the monitoring capabilities of the medium. Community Boards, as government entities, have miniscule leeway in direct experimentation with open media tools like a wiki. As all government officials know, the sky will fall if a four letter work appears on a government website. So moderation techniques are a key focus of the research. It’s possible that barbed WARNINGS like those used on member pages — see http://www.cb3qn.nyc.gov/?p=47758 — might suffice.

Another consideration is the ongoing operation of a wiki. If operated as open media, what arms length relationship can be established to effectively use the medium? How long can the arm be without turning into a black hole? (What a confusing mix that is.)

What are your future intentions with it?

It would be ideal to include it as a tool for committees. But a BBS [Bulletin Board System] needs to be built around and into it.

Some weeks ago I made a presentation to the Charter Revision Commission suggesting that wikis will allow more citizen engagement in its operation and strengthen its deliberations.

But it’s only been a few months and we’ve not yet engaged the power users. An evaluation will take place in February.

Do you know if any other community boards in New York are using a wiki or other similar technology?

No.

Anything else that you would like to say?

A good governance communication system can engage the public and draw upon its expertise as never before. When used as an adjunct or supplement to the traditional neighborly system that the community board is supposed to be, it only adds. We must be vigilant so as to not eliminate the non-netters as convenience or economy moves. We must be aware that there are social, economic, educational, and life style digital divides and continue to seek ways to include all ideas in the democratic stew.

Tom Lowenhaupt’s Community Board member page. http://www.cb3qn.nyc.gov/page/lowenhaupt/

Tom Lowenhaupt’s wiki page. http://beyondvoting.wikicities.com/wiki/User:Tom_Lowenhaupt

http://www.govtech.net/news/news.php?id=96248

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