Another message from Tom Champion (verbatim)

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

(In response to my request that he read all the responses to the last one)

In fact, having surveyed the recent threads,  I am a little concerned that someone has floated the idea that I was asked by "my boss" at City Hall to discontinue my participation. That's simply not the case. This is my own decision, made for the reasons already given. One of the strangest aspects of this episode is that so many DSLJ members seem to take the attitude that I have been a link to a faceless, unapproachable bureaucracy -- when the fact is that, as a whole, city government is pretty darn approachable and human -- from the Chief of Police and the City Clerk to the Superintendent of Inspectional Services and, yes, my good friend Jim Kotzuba at Traffic and Parking.

Also, it's just not right for people to conclude that what sets this administration apart is my past willingness to post to DSLJ.  This all got started because of the Connect CTY calls (the so-called "robo-calls") which were very much the mayor's idea. From the day he took office, people have been able to email Joe directly -- and he reads every one of his messages, and often responds personally.

And people forget that Somerville was the first city in New England -- and remains one of the few small or mid-sized cities anywhere in the U.S. -- to provide a 311 customer service center.  We have trained, multilingual (and very nice) professionals standing by to assist residents with obtaining information and city services of all kinds. They can be reached by phone or email, and they are better informed about the nitty gritty of government than I will ever be. Many of the questions about Somerville life that DSLJers ask the community could be answered quickly and courteously (and expertly) if they were directed to 311.  311 makes a lot of private-sector customer service and tech support operations look pretty lame. I will talk to Sean Murphy, our excellent director of constituent service, about how to structure announcements and information for LJ and other online communities.

But enough rant. I'm not going to reactivate my LiveJournal account, but I'm certainly not expecting you to act as go-between. You can post this if you want -- and then please don't worry about maintaining a link on my behalf. We both have real work to do!

Thanks again for your assistance.

Comments

[wildflowersoul.livejournal.com]

I don't know if this is why, but on my street there's a house being remodeled, and thank god they can't park commercial vehicles overnight because they'd probably take up a few on-street parking spots every night. They already take up 2-3 spots every day during the daytime, and they've been working on this house for at least half a year. It doesn't leave many spaces for people who paid for resident parking stickers, I consider it a lucky day if I can find a spot on my end of the street (not that I drive every day, but whenever I do drive it's a crapshoot).

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

My painter spent a few days doing some work and they ticketed his commercial vehicle during the day. The parking person told him he had been parking there too often. He can't use a guest pass more than twice in week, so what's he supposed to do? I hate having him park in my driveway, since it means the tenants will have to find him to move.

[wildflowersoul.livejournal.com]

Dude, I don't know the ins and outs of commercial passes vs. guest passes, I'm just sayin' that I'm glad there's a restriction on commercial vehicles overnight. Is it the worst thing in the world that your tenants find him and ask him to move (I speak as a tenant who isn't even allowed to park in the driveway at my house)? How often is this really a problem for you?

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

When there are parking spots on the street, yeah, it bugs me and he's at my house every other week to work on something. I also hate that he got a $50 parking ticket that doesn't make sense. I didn't expect you to know anything about commercial passes, just engaging in group whining, that's all.

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

You can get a special permit from the traffic office for a worker who will be working more than the 2 day visitor pass will allow :)