Recently I was made aware that one of the reporters covering the area council meetings cannot make all the meetings due to his work schedule. This is not at all an unusual situation. There are many people who cannot make it to council meetings and do not feel capable of calling their councilors. I can understand it can be very intimidating. I also know full well that only a part of our public meetings are televised and our local access channels do not always carry county meetings. As well it is often very difficult, if not impossible to connect to council members via e-mail.

While I can understand the desire our public officials have not to be deluged by e-mail, I doubt with few exceptions that any such deluge will happen. I also understand liability issues that might occur with e-mail communications. However, the ability to communicate freely and easily with each other and with those in public office is a fundamental cornerstone to our democratic process. To not embrace and make available an ease of public discourse, or to actively put impediments to it is a first step to totalitarianism.

Now I am not suggesting that we are sliding into a society of brown shirts and iron fists. We can however become easily sidetracked from the fundamental necessity of attending to a wide and open exchange of perspectives. We can all be overtaken by busy lives. We can become consumed by a desire for budgetary restraint. There are however places in which the democratic process can be jeopardized. This is one of them. The citizens of our communities deserve better than what they are often getting. The thing that is most perplexing is that in this age a delivery of information and interactivity can be done so easily.

We live in a time when most grade school students can transmit anything around the world instantaneously but for some reason we cannot get a council meeting on our Web site. It would be rather simple to do. If not the full video then just the audio would be great. (Actually, it would be better. Public officials are not always that pretty and it is a lot less expensive to replace a Zune or an Ipod than a laptop after you have thrown it against the wall or stomped on it!) Meetings could also be archived for future reference and downloaded to be listened to at one’s convenience.

We also need to able to more effectively communicate our concerns to our public officials. Not everyone is able or willing to make a meeting and speak in public. While some people have no problem speaking their minds, many are understandably shy. They do not like to get behind a podium, in front of a camera or even call their government representatives. Others work nights, have children, or any host of other commitments. For these people a short email at 1:30 a.m. might be the best time and way to connect with their town officials.

Another tool would be a topical community forum on the Web. Although there are numerous examples of this, (one I would suggest is at www.e-democracy.org) I know that to monitor such might be a bit of an issue. But I cannot see it taking too much time. Besides, I would think the benefit of an opportunity for an ever more open and active democratic process would far outweigh such a small cost. Such a forum has the potential to hold our decision makers a bit more accountable to public sentiment. Rather than relying on their own circle of friends, they could much more easily gauge and have access to public concerns. Also, ideas and solutions can be much more fluidly traded between the public and with town officials.

While these are but a few ideas of how the e-realm can be used, the potential is vast. It would support rather than dissuade public participation in town affairs. It would give greater credence to notions of transparency in government and it would keep officials better informed.

Michael Shaughnessy lives in Windham and can be reached at michaeljshaughnessy@verizon.net.