“The village would be well served if prepared information on serious crimes was posted on their official Web site or communicated through an official spokesperson, as the public has as much right to know about developing stories as local media outlets which receive detailed press releases within a matter of hours following reported crimes.”
As the Chair of the South Orange Public Safety Committee as well as one of the liaisons to the Public Information and Marketing Committee, I cannot agree more - Public Safety goes hand in hand with Public Information. In fact, the Public Safety Committee has already been discussing this exact topic over the past several meetings. As a result, the South Orange Police Chief is now working with the IT Manager to develop a process to be able to rapidly document and disseminate information about serious crimes via the Village website. This process should be live within the next few weeks.
In the past, reports of criminal incidents were often posted by people on Maplewood Online but often times some or all of the facts were misstated. Having an official place for the Village to share the facts about serious crimes is an important step in making residents aware of situations that impact them while also helping to control the rumor mill and ensure the FACTS are made available to the Public.
When I ran for office, one of the main issues I discussed was transparency in government and sharing of public information, which I felt was not readily apparent with the prior administration. This is one of the big reasons I devote much time to sharing my opinions here on this blog, responding to inquiries on Maplewood Online as well as responding to the many emails, phone calls or instant messages I receive from residents. Not everyone has the time to watch our meetings or come to our workshops and we have limited outlets that report real news in town. I serve as a Trustee FOR the residents of this town with no personal agenda other than to do what I think is in the best interests of the residents. I learned early on that you cannot ever make everyone happy. However, recently a resident shared the following with me, which I found to be incredibly inspiring and humbling:
A true politician is Someone who sees beyond the obvious. Someone who looks for ways not just to benefit one segment of his constituents, but tries to benefit all constituents. Someone who looks at an issue with a vision of what it means not just today but in the future. Someone who sees that compromise is not a weakness but a skill. Someone who actually understands all the facts of a problem. Someone that actually cares about the outcome of their decisions.
While certainly nobody is perfect and everybody brings their own perspective to every issue, as long as people are having a professional, respectful, open and transparent dialog about issues it can only help us build a stronger community. To that end, I think it is imperative that we continue to innovate in the ways that the Village communicates to the residents to ensure that residents are given the information to be properly informed. At the new Public Information and Marketing Committee, we are starting to discuss what has worked well and what needs to be improved and I am confident that we are going to continue to raise the bar on government transparency and public information for the betterment of South Orange. As always, I welcome your suggestions.
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