The Town Manager has made the leap into the blogosphere. Look out folks! Left this comment on his blog (he also uses blogger), but he enabled "moderation" so we will see how long it takes for him to allow or censor it.
UPDATE: 3:45 PM. So the comment was published. Touche! I'm always impressed when a highly paid bureaucrat is in their office on a somewhat nice summer friday afteroon, Although...since he did not respond maybe it was simply one of those low-paid town workers who have to stay at their desks until 4:30 or so. Hmmm...
(comment submitted around 3:00 pm)
Yes, indeed Mr. Shaffer—welcome to the Big Bad Blogosphere! Just remember it ‘s still to a tad like the Wild, Wild West (remember that great TV show?) So brace yourself for a few elbows under the net --to use a basketball metaphor rather than military one. You don’t need to create a hot link to the town web site in the first paragraph since folks have found you via that entry page. And the blogosphere is a 24/7 up to the nanosecond kind of place, so if you are publishing on a Friday August 15 the post probably should not be dated Tuesday August 12. PS: I’m glad your I.T. folks used Blogger. Simple and free—can’t get any better than that!
Inept government with a nice website
I do hope that the good town manager understands that anything he posts on a blog that is (a) linked to the town website, (b) done in his official capacity, and (c) likely using public resources (including his time) is an official policy statement of the town. And that there are some interesting legal issues raised by that...
ReplyDeleteFor example, Larry could write "I hate [insert protected group]" and while there would be consequences, he has a legal right to say that.
The town manager, on the town managers blog, doesn't.... It would legally be read as the Town of Amherst intends to discriminate against [insert protected group]...
Ed Cutting
Geeze Ed, you’re going to ruin all the fun!
ReplyDeleteYeah, government bureaucrats--on a good day--are kind of like the Gazette editorial guy: "On the one hand...but on the other"
Chances are the novelty will quickly wear off and Mr. Shaffer’s blog will become rancid like so many that have gone before.
I noticed how he (a) has it set for moderator review and then (b) eliminated the anonymous option.
ReplyDeleteSomeone is very very worried about what people might say, perhaps????
Could be interesting....