Sid Burgess

All Hands on Deck

// February 27th, 2010 // 8 Comments » // Take Action

“A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.”

First appearing in a play by the brilliant Henrik Ibsen, this phrase holds so much truth for communities today.  When we think of leadership within a community, we think of the city council, the head of Public Works, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, or even the guy who organizes the FFA fundraiser . . . but rarely do we think of ourselves, the “common citizens,” as leaders.  We stand heroically ready to pitch in when someone organizes a beautification effort or fundraiser, but step hastily aside if someone calls for a volunteer to assume a leadership position.

Why this fear of being in charge?  Well, certainly one reason is that leadership carries responsibility.  Suddenly the problems become yours to solve, others are looking to you for direction, and any failures are chalked up to your record.  Not exactly fair.  But if the community is running like a ship, with all hands on deck prepared to take leadership if necessary, the intimidation factor goes way down.  Leadership becomes something that anyone can do, if not perfectly then at least acceptably.

Let’s embrace a can-do attitude when it comes to leadership within the community.  It doesn’t have to be huge.  Maybe it just means giving your cell number to the Friends of the Library so they can give you a call if they need someone to host a children’s activity, or taking the initiative to organize a painting party for the peeling fence around the park.  When all hands on deck are flexible enough to “play captain” from time to time, more work gets done . . . and it takes a lot of pressure off the real captain and his crew.  Give your community leaders a break – by becoming one!

Hawaii Tsunami

// February 27th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Take Action

I am watching the coverage here.

If you have found some interesting links, please share them with us.

Free live streaming by Ustream

Smarter Cities for IBM

// February 11th, 2010 // No Comments » // Take Action

I was asked to write a post for IBM’s new Smarter Cities site.  This is a link to that post.

Here is the post.

Change.  A highly operative word, isn’t it?  Change is what everyone wants, yet few of us look forward to it – much less dare to enact it.  And that is where we cheat ourselves out of some amazing opportunities.  As a little experiment, I have been asking people what they think of the community they live in.  Most, at first, are fairly pessimistic.  Common complaints usually include traffic, lack of things to do, or public safety issues.  If I just listen and stay quiet, it is fun to note that people will often talk themselves out of their broader, initial assessment and begin honing in on details.  They will make excuses for the common “issues” that plague many cities and start to mention more specific shortcomings within their own neighborhoods.  I am sure someone could analyze my ‘findings’ and draw their own conclusions, but to me, the implications are crystal clear.

When it comes to small problems within our communities, we often overlook the fact that they are individual, fixable issues.  We tend to lump them all together and call it a city – a bad city.  The specific issues suggested to me are almost always quality of life issues.  Potholes, trashy parks, graffiti, overgrown right-of-ways, and broken sidewalks all plague our impressions of the communities we live in.  So to sum up my little experiment: concerned citizens should stop thinking in broad, negative terms when it comes to our hometowns.  We would serve ourselves better if we would actually pause and bring to the forefront of our mind these annoying little flaws around us. Focus on the issues we can actually fix.  There’s an effective, easy way to do this, and it’s also fun and addicting and I’ve been using it for a while now: SeeClickFix!

Since you are reading this, it’s likely you are already looking for ways to improve the world around you.  You already understand that the world we live in is the world we are handing down to the next generation.  But what about your friends?  Do you hear them complaining, maybe even aspiring to DO something, but never getting beyond mere talk?  Maybe they don’t know the secret of SeeClickFix.  Change is essential for our cities, but it doesn’t have to be super-hard.  Encourage others to start with the small stuff!  Let’s get to fixing our communities… together.

Traditional media, local bloggers, community groups, governments and citizens have all been welcomed onto the SeeClickFix platform and we are hearing many success stories and many places where they would like SeeClickFix to develop. IBM asked us if we would like a platform to share those user suggestions and success stories. We obviously said yes and this is the place where we would like you to share your SeeClickFix story. Got an idea for how you might use the tool? Want to know if its appropriate or if someone else has done it successfully? Post it here. Got something fixed post it here. Fixed something? Post it here. etc.

See?  Change can happen in your community.  Click.  Fix.  Done.

14 Votes Cast…. Total, for $1M Bond Issue

// February 11th, 2010 // 14 Comments » // Take Action

According to this NewsOk article, a school district of 300 students and about 1000 registered voters really showed their civic pride and sense of duty on Tuesday when 14 voters showed up to decide the fate of a million dollar project that included updating the plumbing, repairing the roof,  installing new bathrooms and handicap ramps, and gym improvements.  The 1.5% of the voters came out overwhelmingly in favor of the issue with 11 or about 1% of the voting population casting their yeas.  The opposition put up a good fight though with fully one third of a percent of the voting population opposing the bond.

Naturally, the school was ecstatic..

“We’re very excited…” - Crutcho Superintendent Teresa McAfee

Folks.  Please vote.  Not saying this wasn’t a good thing to vote for, but is this the example we want to set for future generations?  Just vote.

Google Buzz Follower Fix

// February 10th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Take Action

There is a little grumbling from users of the new Google feature, Buzz.   Basically, those people that you choose to follow can see who you follow.  For most people on Twitter, this is common thing. However, this isn’t just another social network and so people in your “friends” list are people you email.  That is a list you may not want to share.

I am not too worried that Google wont make this easier to do really soon, but in the mean time, here is a quick and dirty fix to keep your email list hidden.

Click here to go to your Google profile.  Then uncheck the “Display the list of people I’m following and people following me” box.

Of course if you want to opt back out of Buzz, you simply click the “Turn Off Buzz” button at the bottom of your Gmail page.

Happy Buzzing!

sidburgess@gmail.com

http://www.google.com/profiles/sidburgess

http://twitter.com/sidburgess

Blog Your Neighborhood

// January 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // Take Action

Ok, so we aren’t all activists. Not everyone here has a green thumb and we can’t make it to all the zoning meetings. So let’s see, the community shakers, outdoors-y types, and soccer moms are all busy – who does that leave? The nerds and geeks!

You know who you are. You may not know this, but your community needs you. Even if you did know that, you have probably wondered what YOU can do to help. You are, after all, socially challenged. From one geek to another – I have a plan.

Blog.

You already have a blog? Great! Is it possible your community could talk you out of writing about the iPhone or WoW once or twice a month to address the issues your neighborhood faces? Btw, I am talking about your real neighborhood, not the one you created in Second Life.

Seriously, if you have skills, let’s use them. I promise, at some point in the future you are going to ask yourself what you did to make a difference. This one is too easy. Grab a free blog fromhttp://blogger.com or use the one you already have and write a post about what needs to be done within 10 blocks of your house. Document the fact that you do know what the square root of the number of stop signs are between your home and city hall.

Do you blog already about your community? Because I want to read it if you do. Drop your link in a comment. Thanks for making a difference!

Cleanliness Is King

// January 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // Take Action

For the next few days we are going to take a hard look at the needs of our communities.  We need to do this because our communities are failing and it isn’t because we lack resources (not always anyway).   We are failing at appropriately identifying which projects merit our tax dollars and which ones do not.  The result is a series of public relation projects that only provide the illusion of progress.  These are projects that do not have the critical sustaining benefits of major infrastructure improvements like a water treatment facility for example.  In a time when our dollars are being ripped out of our pockets more and more, we have reached an emergency status in America. We must focus on projects and programs that will allow us to SURVIVE as a city into the next generation.

There are three basic ways we should start to relook at our cities.  In this post we will examine one that is so obvious, it often gets laughed or scoffed at.  But cities who choose to ignore it will find they won’t be having the last laugh.  Keep your city clean! Focusing on the cleanliness of your city is vital to understanding the needs of your community.  This is important for two reasons.

1) You can’t identify what’s wrong if you can’t see it! Knowing what is just a mess and what is actually broken is an important first step.  For example, if you walked into a neighborhood and your eyes are drawn toward the cracking road, fading road stripes, and the tall grass in the ditches and alleys, would the failing sewer line below the street ever be considered a priority to you?  Of course not, because there are always so many other more ‘obvious’ things to do!  Now of course we as citizens don’t dictate the projects per se.  Sure, some Public Works guy figures all that out.  But what about him?  He has to look past the mess on the surface and determine what really needs to be done.  This makes his job harder than it needs to be.  What I am touching on is the simple fact that we humans, by nature, are distracted by disorder.  We demand more order in our lives than we give ourselves credit for.  Ensuring our city is clean and free of the basic visual and emotional obstacles, creates an opportunity for a freeway of ideas.

Keeping your city clean doesn’t have to be expensive.  There are a great many churches, civic groups, homeowner associations, etc. that can and SHOULD lend a hand.  If you have a problem with getting out and picking up trash or doing a little weed eating, then you probably shouldn’t live in a city.  It is not the norm for cities to provide perfection in this department without the help of locals – the exception being cities that have a huge tax base to work with.  You can buy just about anything with money, even clean streets.

2) A clean city is a content city. If you listen to Dave Ramsey or Clark Howard, you may have heard them advise someone with “new car fever” to go and have it detailed inside and out, and to fix all the little things that are wrong.  End result – the car owner feels much better about their vehicle and the “new car fever” goes away.  The concept is simple: when we own something for a long time, or more specifically, when we live within a city for a long time, we grow tired and weary of the “little things” that bother us.  I know for me, it is the silly concrete half-curb I have to drive over when I exit our apartments, left-over from when the city resurfaced and then retrofitted our street for the complex.  It is a royal pain!  Or what about the street that doesn’t look like it has been touched with a tar truck since the Cold War.  Neither are going to make me too excited about any ballot initiative to replace the aging water treatment facility.  If those small projects were addressed regularly, more citizens would feel proud of their communities.

Sometimes the simplest things in life are the most important to pay attention to.  If communities are not distracted by “the little things” they will be more likely to correctly identify the larger issues facing them.  I really could have spent a lot longer building upon this point, but I really don’t think you need it. I hope you get the basic concepts though.  A clean city is easier to fix and the fix is easier to pull off in a clean city.

Do Something Beautiful

// January 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // Take Action

Every project should have something beautiful about it. Whether it be a creek alignment project or a new asphalt road, beauty is a critical component of any local project. Without it, you stand a very good chance of losing public support for that project or even future endeavors.  In real estate we call it curb appeal, at a restaurant it is presentation or ’sizzle’, and in most trades we equivocate beautify to quality craftsmanship. Paying attention to the details and going the extra mile almost always pays for itself in added overall value to the  community.  You also retain future support from the people footing the bill, the taxpayers. Always remember, beauty inspires.

There is, however, a danger to this kind of thinking.  Some of our municipal, state, and federal buildings are an example of the misapplication of this theory.  Most of these buildings do little more than house the people responsible for serving the public while they conduct the business of the local government.  These structures should be solid, efficient, and attractive, but not gaudy or extravagant.  Taxpayers and local officials should always be focused on utility, function, and accessibility to the public when designing any government workspace.

It has been said that “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.” A Chinese proverb also says “One generation plants a tree and another gets the shade.” It is my firm belief that municipal management’s primary focus should be building infrastructure for the generations to come. Band-Aids and patches should rarely be substitutes for careful planning and consistent application of time, money, and resources to solve tomorrow’s problems, today.  No generation is exempt from the responsibility to properly care for what we have in order that our children may be capable of doing the same. Even with excellent planning, we still could not reasonably “maintain” all of our infrastructure at such an ideal condition that it would remove the responsibility of the next generation. It is a cycle that will never end and therefore must never be broken. If our parents and grandparents had adequately understood the value of quality craftsmanship and the value of consistent application of funds to improve our infrastructure, we would likely be contemplating how best to save our resources for the future.

There is a logical reason for this “falling-down” within our infrastructures.  Gross negligence or irresponsibility are not  to blame for the former generations missing the mark.  I will write on this more in the future, but the deterioration of buying power,  lack of efficiencies,  and lack of transparency have significantly added to the creation of the mess we now need to clean up.

How does a generation “catch up”? Quite simply, through the application of successful leadership.  Think slow, think consistent, think beauty, and let time be your ally.  Use innovation and creativity.  Demand more for less.  Learn to say NO, and find ways to integrate quality craftsmanship into projects. There are many beautiful communities that have a much higher cost of living, but conversely there are very few ugly ones.  In other words, “you get what you pay for.”  Citizens will almost always support projects they can be proud of. They rarely fund projects that they believe will end up being unattractive and low quality.  Again, this isn’t to say an attractive community is necessarily a successful one.   Communities that do, however, seek to find efficiency and quality in the details are far less likely to approve low-quality projects that will just have to be replaced by our children.  Slow and steady is boring and fighting for longer-lasting, more expensive projects may make it harder to get re-elected, but…

“Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.” -Stephen R. Covey

We must learn to define the issues, create a solution, apply necessary actions, and accept nothing but the best quality and service for our community.  Remember, we are building a community that you are going to be sharing with your future family.  Make it count and make them proud.  Set an example of disciplined application of funds and set your mark for sustainable projects and policies.

So why don’t more communities build longer-lasting roads, install better-quality park equipment, or avoid budget black holes (net losses) such as golf courses?  Think about it.  Most people, including the local officials, don’t actually want to support inferior projects.  Usually, the pressure to “fix it now” has a lot to do with the tendency toward these decisions.  Projects that are rushed and hurried rarely last for a long time.  Another problem — the difficulty of maintaining a well-informed governing body — is the least obvious and yet the easiest to fix.  You may be amazed to know that many of your local government officials do not collaborate and share their opinions about the “higher” subjects such as sustainable construction.  Lack of information about such subjects can make it difficult for a council meeting to go much beyond the daily concerns of water bills or zoning permits.  While every public official would certainly claim to support solid, long-term endeavors rather than half-planned, low-quality projects, the truth is that many of them simply don’t know the best way to go about it.

You see, we are to blame in a way.  We assume so often that because people are in government, they must have all the information they need to make great decisions.  Go to your next meeting and help them out.

Also, the next time you are driving in your community, look around to see if you can identify which projects  are likely to have such a long-term positive impact that they will benefit your grandchildren.  Then find some projects that most likely will not.  Could your community have done a better job of building those projects to last longer?  How much more would it have cost?  What elements are missing to give it that added sense of pride and completeness?

If you want to see your community grow smarter and focus on building for the future, I encourage you to attend the next city council meeting and voice your thoughts.  Call your local elected officials as well and ask them to consider making the next project one for posterity.

Feel free to pass this along to your local officials as well.  Best of luck!

How To Fill A Pothole With Tweets

// January 18th, 2010 // 6 Comments » // Take Action

As citizens, we have more and more options to reach our elected officials and leverage social media. Social networking sites are not for everyone and some people choose to leave them to their family life. But if you are interested in using your Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or StumbelUpon account for good in your community, here is your how-to that is sure to fill your pothole.

1) Define your project/issue

Take a picture of your issue or project. Even if this isn’t something that is physically wrong in your community, a picture adds great context to your message.

Upload your picture(s) to your Flickr account. If you took a video (which would be awesome!), add it to your Youtube account and be sure to mention what community you are in, who you are, and define the issue while you narrate the video.

Go to SeeClickFix and and log in with your Facebook Account. In the “Location” type in your community. Zoom in and create your ticket. Then go to the Issue Page and check out all your options! Before you go on a sharing frenzy, let’s add some important people to your network.

2) Friend your leadership

First, find out if your local community has a web site that lists your elected officials. If they are there, grab those names and start searching for them on Twitter and Facebook or whatever social network you want to use. Once you have found them, ’friend’ them! This is a great way to shortcut all the headaches of voicemail and unhelpful staff. Keep in mind that not all elected officials are hard to reach so don’t feel like you can’t at least try to use the phone before you drop your tweet on them.

Speaking of tweets, GovTwit is a great place to find your elected officials on Twitter.

3) Follow-up and engage your community

So you did it. You reported your issue, found your city councilman, and sent her a Facebook Direct Message. You are feeling quite proud at the moment I bet. You should be! You have just gotten farther than 95% of Americans at getting something done in their community. However, we can stillcapitalize on all your hard work by “sharing” what you have done. Send out the link to your project that you posted on SeeClickFix to your Twitter followers and ask them to comment or “vote up” your project. On Facebook you can share it right from the issue page. It is really that easy. When the issue is fixed or addressed, always be sure to post follow-up details for all of your friends and be sure to say thank you.

Don’t stop!

Again, what you have just done is so much more than most people ever take the time to do. The reality is our communities are falling apart largely because we are failing to let our leadership know that we actually do see and care about these things. As a councilman, I was always trying to look at the big picture stuff. It was easy to become oblivious to the small things that could be causing friction in the community. Never fall into believing that it is rude to bring up something that is wrong. These are your streets, your parks . . . it is your community! And more importantly, whatever doesn’t get fixed while we are around will get left for our children to clean up. Speak up and let’s get this stuff done.

Encore:

Try stepping up your game next time. AYouTubevideo with commentary is a great way to convey your message, especially if you can get helpers from your neighborhood. Here is a nice example of one.

Best of luck and be sure to report back to all of us as to how things went!

Peace.

PS: Do you have a story about how you were able to use the internet or social media to solve an issue in your community? Would love to hear it!