Message from Tom Champion (verbatim)

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

From the beginning, my informal communication via LiveJournal has been problematic for a variety of reasons:

* When am I speaking for myself, and when for the city?

* Am I setting myself up as some alternate channel that competes with legitimate lines of inquiry and process, such as 311? Am I just ego-tripping?

* My "tone" has been questioned on several occasions and I certainly don't want anybody to judge the city by one snarky employee -- especially since I have the responsibility to speak officially for the city as well.

* Twice in as many weeks I have, in a rush to be timely, mis-communicated on important issues, and had to apologize for it.

* My first responsibility at all times is to my friends and colleagues in city government. They're my team and I must never create even the appearance of second-guessing them -- because I'm not. It's simply inappropriate for me to pretend that I can "unofficially" take part in any online community -- even as decent and thoughtful a community as DSLJ.

This was, therefore, a mistake. The InterWebs are tricky places, and we learn as we go.

In future, I think the best way for people to communicate with City Hall is to call or email 311 -- and the best way for City Hall to communicate with DSLJ members is by official announcement only, so I will explore setting up an account for that purpose.

Comments

[annalauwa.livejournal.com]

:(

[vibrantabyss.livejournal.com]

understandable, but i will miss his voice here.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

that's about what i thought was going on. i'm sad to see Tom go, but i understand the reasons.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

:(

All very reasonable, and if hanging around here was putting him in an awkward place, I certainly wouldn't want that.

But even so:

:(

[bex77]

Thanks for the info.
I'll never forget the "Move da caas. plz" icon.
This makes me incredibly sad. I will miss his helpful posts. A lot.
I thought we could somehow get around the internet trickies.
Tell him I said "Many thanks!" *sniff*

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

As I said to the other moderators, instead of, or in addition to setting up an official account, I'd love it if Tom would just come and socialize with us on his own, perhaps under a standard handle. I'll miss his voice here and emphatically not just because he answered questions, as I'm perfectly capable of dialing 311.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

I'd love it if Tom would just come and socialize with us on his own, perhaps under a standard handle.

The problem with that is, no matter how much the person says they aren't speaking in an official capacity, and whatever handle they use, someone, somewhere, will figure out it's them, and construe the slightest slip up in the worst way, and take them to task, publicly, as the official - even if it is a personal opinion. In this day and age, no matter what we may like, representatives of organizations are NEVER off the record as their official position.

google bruce tait, quincy police patrol officers association, and diane feinstein

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I agree with that. It's a shame tho.

[gee-tar.livejournal.com]

I can't say that I can argue with his airtight logic, but I will say that I've learned more from DSLJ than anything "official" the city has ever put out.

[beezy515.livejournal.com]

I agree! I learned a lot from having him here.

This is very sad.

[mrf-arch.livejournal.com]

I'm living over the line in Medford, so I dunno if I get a full vote here, but I think that city government officials who are human, accessible, and timely - even if not always right or perfectly "on message" - are a hell of a lot better for long-term constituent relations than carefully worded official press releases.

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

I agree. "Snarky" is real, and real is believable. But it's also done at one's own risk, and I don't know as I'd ask that of anyone.

[inahandbasket]

seconded.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

agree, agree, agree

[m00n.livejournal.com]

I'd second that. Even if I didn't always agree with what he said or didn't like his tone, the fact that the city had an official that was willing to show up in such a lively and continuous discussion about the city made me appreciate the whole administration that much more.

Tom, if you're reading this, you should know that knowing you're listening here will almost definitely make me more likely to re-elect the mayor because I feel like I have a friend at city hall that actually cares about what I have to say!

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

Add me to the pile of folks who entirely understand the reasoning, but will miss Tom Champion's posts here.

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

I am sad to see him go. I think he ought to be the guest of honor at the next meetup.

[diatomacearth.livejournal.com]

Count me in the "I can't fault his reasoning, but am extremely sorry to hear he's withdrawing from the LJ scene" crowd.

Mr. Champion, your efforts to better the lines of communication between the city government and the city residents were appreciated. I hope the city government will consider instituting some official equivalent to what you were trying to do here--there are clearly pitfalls, but there are also clearly benefits to semi-formal internet communication with residents. (Perhaps a dept. of communications-maintained city blog would serve that purpose, similar to the Somerville Public Library blog? Something that helps to give an accessible human face to city government, without compromising the necessary sense of professionalism?)

the term you're looking for is Ombudsman

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

I do think something like that would be really helpful. I'm very sorry to see him go!

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

Thirded!

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

I'm personally jealous of his name.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

Maybe we should all change ours to show solidarity?

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Why do people like this butthurt douchebag again?

As far as I can tell he enjoyed basking in attention until the first minor incident in which he flounced tremendously.

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

That is, in fact, a very perceptive observation.

The "basking in attention" thing was always questionable and has a lot to do with why I shouldn't do this anymore.

And nobody should gang up on on_reserve for being right or being snarky: what I learned was that I shouldn't interfere to the degree that I had begun to. As I told on_reserve offline, this wasn't Jim Kotzuba's mistake. It was mine.

Re-flouncing.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Okay, I take back the 'butthurt' remark.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

Well, I missed the incident entirely, so I can't speak to the flouncing.

But you could change your name to [two_stabs] Villain, if you preferred!

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

I'd prefer to just continue developing my reputation.

[diatomacearth.livejournal.com]

Lord knows, he's nicer than you.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Lots of people are nicer than me. You're nicer than me. But where are your adoring fans?

[diatomacearth.livejournal.com]

They've got too much good taste to hang out here.

[kjc.livejournal.com]

Oh, poo. Poor Tom.

Thanks for everything!

Oh, poo?

[rosiewoodboat.livejournal.com]

"In recent news, Tom Champion abandoned his most articulate constituents...."

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I had just yesterday been trying to explain to a friend the Tom Champion phenomenon, and why it makes Somerville awesome. :(

But, as someone who has had a job interacting with the public, I get how hard that line can be.

[teko.livejournal.com]

All of those bullet points are, indeed, food for thought.

But do I fault his reasoning for no longer using LJ to disperse info? Yes, I do.

He's been straddling the line, as he says, between being "just good ol' Tom, your friend who knows stuff about how the city works" and "city official, Tom Champion" and dispersing information and answering questions in an informal, unofficial way. Yes, it's been problematic, just as anything involving complex, sometimes archaic laws and upset citizens can be.

But I think it's shown how fantastic it is to live in a city where the officials recognize that a LJ community is a great way to communicate with citizens. It's 2008, the citizens use computers, and we've got tools like LiveJournal, Twitter, etc that can disperse info immediately and allow for dialogue. I know that Tom's updates have been vital for me during snow emergencies, traffic and construction problems, and the like.

So maybe it's time for the city to make it official. Make Tom the City Blogger. It was NOT a mistake for him to venture into LJ territory, it was brilliant, and should be an example of how a city government can connect with the people.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Yes! Also consider that this is the time when the two major national presidential candidates are looking to get *more* into blogging, not less.

Rather than thinking "Man, that Tom, he's so unprofessional" it actually got me thinking "hey, wouldn't it be cool if the next president would blog about the things going on in the white house?"

Governments of all kinds usually feel so inaccessible and impersonal, and I think that's really a shame when these people are actually elected by us and are supposed to represent our needs.

Also, for the record, it was a LOT easier for me to get other Davis Square residents to join the community when they thought that a city official might be reading what they had to write (and responding personally! Whoa!)

[blondeamazon.livejournal.com]

As someone earlier posted, I live just across the line into Medford and have found the DSLJ the fastest and sometimes only, way I hear about events (entertainment, snow emergencies, crime. etc). I think it is a shame he has to limit, or end, his involvement. Maybe he can figure out a way to be both his informal self and the city official here.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Sigh.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

Ok, a slightly dissenting voice here.

Tom, I for one liked you here because you presented a fun side to local politics and we- the members of this community- felt like we had someone in City Hall that knew we existed and cared enough to get off his butt, join the 21st century, and use da intahwebs to interact with constituents.

You provided something different than 311. If we needed a lengthy explanation, you were the man to contact. You could get us the straight poop. If I need to know something simple, like how to properly dispose of dead hookers, I can call 311 for that. But explaining the whys- like why I can't just burn their bodies on my lawn on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month between April and December without getting a ticket- we needed your assistance.

Look, it is tricky ground here, trying to walk the line between being our friend and being a representative of the city. To cop from Dubya, "it's hard work". But we appreciated the effort very much, appreciated your voice, and understand your desire not to step on the toes of your coworkers.

And yeah, being out in the open on the intahwebs, people will take shots at you and things can get a little harsh and you want to tell them to eat shit and howl at the moon, but can't because you're here in a quasi-official capacity. But people taking shots- that's normal, and a price to pay for the medium. Doesn't make it right or take the sting away from it, but so long as you don't pull an Obama and stay true to your principles and don't say/write one thing and do another or lie to us, that's what really counts. And that's why we liked having you around- we could get the truth from you and most of us trusted you. And if someone (ahem) didn't, well, engage them with the truth, have an exchange, someone snarks the exchange with a drama llama macro, and we all move along to the next issue.

I for one hope you come back. There's a lot of "old" Somerville still out there running things, and you were someone who made the effort to bring "new" Somervillians (is that correct? villians?) into the process and give us a voice. So c'mon back and let the cat macros roll! Or LOL.

[turil.livejournal.com]

It's a learning process, this new form of interaction with the public.

It will soon be pretty much a requirement for all political representatives who want to be seen as important. But it's going to take the more extraordinary and courageous ones to be the explorers of the medium. I thank you for trying Tom, and wish you well as you figure out how to make it work if you ever choose to do so again.

I went through this a while back when I worked for a non-profit. The solution we came up with was to use my own account on my own time with my nickname for personal purposes, and use an official account with my job title for official stuff I did while getting paid or officially volunteering. It worked out well for us.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Tom, if you every want to rejoin, we'd all be delighted to have you. I really enjoyed meeting you at the meet-up, and always looked forward to your posts.