To Blog or Not to Blog -- that is the question
Last month I had the pleasure of teaching two classes to city officials at the Association of Washington Cities Conference in Spokane. One hot issue raised by the city councilmembers was the use of blogs and Web 2.0 cites. I cautioned against their use because the Public Records Act issues are unresolved.
Another topic at the conference, however, was about the use of blogs and Web 2.0 cites. The presenter, Lakewood City Councilmember Walter Neary, has his own blog, Electing2Blog, Blogging by Elected Officials, dedicated to this topic.
When some of the councilmembers who attended my sessions cautioned about the risks of blogging created by the PRA, ... well here is Councilmember Neary's take "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Public Outreach."
Here is another take on the exchange from the Olympia Time blog: "The secret key to why city council members are told not to blog"
Someone has also started a WIKI page on the topic entitled "Social Web handbook for Washington State local electeds"
I will post the questions I have asked Tim Ford, the AG Open Government Ombudsman, about the legality of this topic shortly.
