Transparency and Open Government

Forum from Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forum

3.
a. used to mean a public meeting, a lecture involving audience discussion
b. a program (as on radio or television) involving discussion of a problem usually by several authorities

The Southern California Transit Forum was held Friday, February 5, 2010 an all day affair live streamed from Chapman University in Orange. The topic "Seeking Solutions To Address The State Transit Crisis."

We were invited to participate in the forum, to Tweet out to our followers information on the event and invite them to join in the conversation.

I was invited to a forum.
I was invited to be part of an audience and was asked use a #hashtag.
I was asked to have my followers join the conversation by using the same #hashtag.
But I wasn't represented.
My Tweets didn't show up in the Forum.
To me this was not a Transparent Forum

What is Transparent?

If you are going to use a #Hashtag ... then don't filter it at the forum, especially don't filter invited representatives from Social Media.

#Hashtags are an online convention that everyone might not be familiar with. At conferences and events when Twitter Streams are projected onto the screen by hashtags it is the audience being allowed to participate and share in the event without interrupting the event.

Hashtags can be abused and it is not unusual for Tweets to be monitored. Threats, foul language and inappropriate items are often siphoned off. But when it goes any farther in this it starts to look like censorship at worse and manipulation at best. Neither would be described as "Transparent."

From my observations the Twitter stream shown in the Forum and the one online differed tremendously and profoundly. New posts were streaming into Twitter while the stream within the Forum repeated and looped the same Tweets.

Audience Participation

If you are going to take questions from YouTube.com I want to see where they are posted? Where are these questions you are drawing from? I want the urls. I want to see it FROM YOUTUBE.COM.

Twitter, same thing, if you are taking questions from the Twitter stream I want to see where they are coming from. What are the questions from your constituents? I want the urls. I want to see it FROM TWITTER.COM.

SHOW ME YOUR TRANSPARENCY
Show me your Transparency. Show me it's not a plant. Show me I am being represented in this media and not just getting "Transparency-Washed" like "Green-Washing" when public places set out recycling receptacles just to dump it all in the same bin behind closed doors.

All that is required:
1. url of the YouTube Video
2. url of the Twitter question

Why?
Because its important. This is OUR Forum. Our chance to be heard. This is my chance to tell Sacramento I don't like how they spend my money.

In the afternoon I heard the moderator shut down the questions from participants.

Think I am whining now?

What I Want the Transit Forum to Hear

I have used public transportation in both the Los Angeles Metro area and the Orange County Metro area. As a young adult I had health issues, they thought I had epilepsy and so I did not qualify for a drivers license. I have experienced the limitations of not having a car in Southern California. To make a trip from North Hollywood to Glendale to get an immunization took all day on public transportation. It actually would have been quicker for me to go to San Fransisco that day.

I argue that the need for local, immediate transportation is what will serve the constituents of California. I say that cutting the local bus services is a huge disservice. No, cutting local bus services is blatantly ignoring the needs of the public good and the demands of the future.

Gas prices are soaring with the promise to soar more. Job cuts, unemployment levels ... probably the car is going to go as well for a lot of these people. And then what is the biggest obstacle for their job hunt, their economic recovery? You think looking at wants ads in the newspaper is discouraging ... try cross checking with an available metro route, a metro route you can depend on to meet your work schedule.

Demographically speaking we have a huge generation of aging Baby Boomers. When adults are faced with the onset of legal blindness transportation issues loom even greater than literacy! How will I get around? How do I maintain my independence? How do I take care of myself?

The local transit system is the life and blood for many people to get basic needs cared for, to find work, to go to school, to get their children to the doctors.

Why are we cutting back on local buses and neighborhood solutions?

I don't need to get from Anaheim to LA in 20 Minutes. I need to get to work, to school, to the grocery store, to the doctors office. These are the transportation issues that need to be addressed. This is the infrastructure that people need. This is the solution we want.

If You Say You Are Transparent You Better Be Transparent

Rendering authenticity is the value to which businesses will be held.

In Joseph Pine's Ted Talk he shares the 3 rules business must follow in order to render the value of authenticity. Below I have rewritten Pine's rules and replaced the value of authenticity with transparency. I would argue the same three rules apply if you choose to market your online presence as "transparent." Make sure you take a good long look in the mirror before you make that declaration.

1. Don't say you are transparent unless you really are transparent.

2. It's easier to be transparent if you don't say you are transparent.

3. If you say you are transparent ... you better be transparent.

If you say you are transparent and you are not you run the risk of appearing as a phony. Some may need a refresher in the wiki definition of transparency.

I Want My Disney Style Monorail!

We are headed to the biggest traffic jam ever seen by man... but there is a solution, and Walt started it in 1959, Now is the time to go back, So we can all move forward.

And as ever we will be right in the middle of it.

Join us Today for the Southern California Transit Forum.

Happy Birthday Rosa Parks

Happy Birthday Rosa Parks, and to everyone else who is not content with sitting in the back of the bus...

Are you ready for change?

Don McLean American Pie

A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And, I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance, and...
Maybe they'd be happy for a while
But, February made me shiver with every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep - I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride
Something touched me deep inside the day the music died

So, bye bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing...
This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Did you write the Book of Love and do you have faith in God, above?
If the Bible tells you so
Now, do you believe in Rock and Roll? Can music save your mortal soul? And...
Can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you're in love with him, 'cause I saw you dancing in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes - man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely, teenage broncin' buck with a pink carnation and a pickup truck, but...
I knew I was out of luck the day the music died

I started singing, bye bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing...
This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Now, for ten years we've been on our own and moss grows fat on a Rolling Stone, but...
That's not how it used to be
When the Jester sang for the king and queen in a coat he borrowed from James Dean
In a voice that came from you and me
Oh, and while the King was looking down the Jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned - no verdict was returned
And, while Lennon read a book on Marx the quartet practiced in the park, and...
We sang dirges in the dark the day the music died

We were singing, bye bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing...
This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Healter Skealter in the summer swelter - the Birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight Miles High and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass with the Jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now, the halftime air was sweet perfume while the Sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance, oh, but we never got the chance
'cause the players tried to take the field - the marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?

We started singing, bye bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing...
This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

And, there we were, all in one place - a generation Lost in Space
With no time left to start again
So, come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick - Jack Flash sat on a Candlestick, 'cause...
Fire is the Devil's only friend
And, as I watched him on the stage my hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell could break that satan's spell
And, as the flames climbed high into the night to light the sacrificial rite, I saw...
Satan laughing with delight the day the music died

He was singing, bye bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing...
This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

I met a girl who sang the Blues, and I asked her for some happy news
She just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store where I'd heard the music years before, but...
The man there said the music wouldn't play
And, in the streets the children screamed, the lover's cried, and the poets dreamed, but...
Not a word was spoken - the church bells all were broken
And, the three men I admire most: the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, they...
Caught the last train for the coast the day the music died

And, they were singing, bye bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing...
This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

They were singing, bye bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing...
This'll be the day that I die

Punxsutawney Phil Says Six More Weeks Of Winter

Punxsutawney Phil prognosticator of prognosticators is only right 40% of the time.

Are you ready for the thaw?

Groundhog Day In Gobbler's Knob

If Punxsutawney Phil exits his Gobbler's Knob burrow on Feb 2 & fails to see his shadow, He will leave it & winter will soon end. If he sees his shadow, Phill will retreat into his burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks...

Winter is hell here in San Clemente...