Technology Lets Chicagoans Join In On Conversation
by Thelma Sardin
On Thursday afternoon, Mayor Rahm Emanuel connected with Chicagoans through a virtual town hall meeting hosted at Kennedy-King College in Chicagos Englewood neighborhood.
Residents were able to join the town hall via Facebook and Livestream.
The Mayor answered questions in the WYCC television studios located on the colleges campus.
The discussion was moderated by WGCI-FM radio personalities Tony Skulfield and Nina Chantele.
Mayor Emanuel tackled several questions ranging from police, gang violence, jobs, CTA safety and education. The Mayor made a strong declaration when asked about gangs and violence in the city. Streets in Chicago dont belong to gangs, he said.
According to figures from the Mayors Press office, 589 people were online at once watching live, 708 people participated online prior to the event, 517 questions were submitted online and 8,676 votes were cast on the AskChicago website.
The event marked the first time a sitting mayor of a major city held a live online chat in which questions were submitted by the public.
The Mayors office partnered with the Smart Communities program to establish viewing locations for residents with limited or no access to the internet. KKC was one of three locations including Instituto del Progreso Latino in Pilsen and Association House of Chicago in Humboldt Park.
The Smart Communities Program is an initiative to bridge the digital divide among city households, businesses and institutions. The effort provides communities with access to affordable technology resources including computers and internet access.
Dr. Pamela C. Cannamore, an assistant professor in the Communications Department at KKC says the town hall was great for the college.
I think that it is a good thing that he had the town hall meeting here at Kennedy-King College. He is the person over Chicago and we are the City Colleges of Chicago it seemed only appropriate that he would come to the television studios here, she said.
Cannamore was one of eighteen people who viewed the town hall meeting via a monitor in the schools auditorium. She wishes more community residents would have come out for the meeting.
I would have liked for it to have been better attended, she added.
In a released statement, the Mayor described his dedication to keeping the lines of communication open with Chicagoans.
A commitment to openness and accountability is at the core of our administration; Chicagoans have questions and deserve open, honest answers from their government, said Mayor Emanuel, Were leveraging new technologies to bring even more people into the conversation and to find new, innovative ways to make Chicago even stronger.
The Mayor says he hopes to conduct more virtual town hall meetings. A video of the live chat can be viewed at www.livestream.com/chicagomayorsoffice
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