etownblog.org

On December 18, 2008, the Wall Street Journal  ran the article “Compiling a To-Do List for Obama’s New Deal”. Now, seven months later as new stimulus funding discussions are in the news, I was struck by how eTown makes this earlier list relevant and actionable. First consider Transportation and Infrastructure. In eTown, residents and town hall are tied together through a web based service request system. Each resident becomes a sensor for the integrity of the transportation infrastructure and town hall is able to quickly address deficiencies while repair costs are still low. Another area, Energy Efficiency, is improved by replacing paper with digital communications and allowing interaction with  a virtual town hall from home and business vs. travel by car and truck to physical energy consuming buildings. Similarly, School Building Repairs benefit from the same type of online service request system used for infrastructure with the added benefit of being able to share town and regional personnel, equipment and vendors to reduce the cost and time of maintenance and facility improvement actions. Finally, available Broadband and wireless communication connections enable the interactions of eTown. Digitized Records in the form of land and property information, codes and standards, plans and strategies, and meeting proposals and decisions provide the context for enabling residents, businesses and town officials to drive continuous improvements. In summary, eTown is the realization of the “New Deal” vision. Fortunately, the building blocks are all available and the stimulus incentives are in place for any town to become an eTown.

I was just reading an article about a consultant who recommended reducing the local town budget by sharing maintenance services between the town and the local school system. Although I don’t know how much sharing is possible based on needs, timing,  and equipment/ material demands, it’s worth considering. For example, snow and leaf removal, grounds maintenance, and some building maintenance would appear to have common needs. Also, the ability to reduce costs by combining cleaning services and supplies also appear feasible. However, the realization of benefits requires an integrated approach to requesting, processing and executing requests that spans the different environments and jurisdictions of the municipal and educational systems. Web based service request management can provide the vehicle for linking these environments but the hard work of agreeing on services, processes, responsibilities and  ”who pays for what” still remains. From my perspective, the hard work is justified. The savings appear to be large and, done appropriately, service can improve for both our children and our towns.