[Durham INC] Engaged Durham Pilot Ends Oct. 31

[Blalock, Amy]

[cid:image001.jpg at 01CEC9BF.73964ED0]


CITY OF DURHAM
Office of Public Affairs
101 City Hall Plaza
Durham, NC 27701


News Release


News Media Contact:
Amy Blalock
Senior Public Affairs Specialist
(919) 560-4123 x 11253
(919) 475-7735 (cell)
Amy.Blalock at DurhamNC.gov<mailto:Amy.Blalock at DurhamNC.gov>
http://Facebook.com/CityofDurhamNC
http://Twitter.com/CityofDurhamNC


For Immediate Release: October 21, 2013


Engaged Durham Pilot Ends October 31
Online Forum for Residents to Provide Budget Input

DURHAM, N.C. - Time is running out for residents to go online and share their opinions on how to allocate their tax dollars next year.

The City's new online forum - Engaged Durham - is a pilot program that is now underway at http://durhamnc.gov/ich/as/bms/Pages/Open-City-Hall.aspx and will be active only until October 31, 2013. The forum is designed to increase resident engagement and to learn what their highest priorities are for the City's budget.

According to Johnson, if Engaged Durham is well received during this pilot phase, it will be used again in the spring to solicit residents' input on other budgetary concerns. "We need as many of our residents as possible to participate in the pilot program so we can determine if this will be a good tool to use again next year," said Johnson. "We feel this is an incredibly cost-effective way to empower residents to participate in City decisions from the privacy and convenience of their home or office. We hope that our residents will participate in the pilot program to help us test this tool and its potential here in Durham."

Once subscribed in the forum, residents can participate in two budgeting exercises centered on the question, "How would you spend $500 to fund what is most important to you in Durham?" The first exercise involves spending $500 across the five Strategic Plan goals. The second exercise is more detailed, and asks residents to prioritize spending across 22 strategic plan objectives. Residents will also have the opportunity to make general comments about their budget priorities, upload photos or videos to illustrate their concerns or suggestions, and put a value on the priorities they think are most important.

Engaged Durham was created through a partnership between the City's Budget and Management Services Department and Peak Democracy, a non-partisan company based in California. There is no cost to the City to use this forum during the pilot phase.

For more information about Engaged Durham, contact John Allore, assistant director of the City's Budget and Management Services Department, at (919) 560-4111, ext. 20292 or by email at John.Allore at DurhamNC.gov<mailto:John.Allore at DurhamNC.gov>.

About the Budget & Management Services Department
The Budget and Management Services Department is primarily responsible for the development and oversight of the City's annual budget and Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The department is also responsible for organizational development, performance management, and strategic planning<http://durhamnc.gov/ich/as/bms/Pages/Strategic%20Plan/sp_SPHome.aspx> as well as for providing policy and management analysis to support decision making. The department primarily supports two Strategic Plan goals - Well-Managed City and Stewardship of the City's Physical Assets. Overall, the department is focusing on furthering the goal of transparency and accountability with its operations and communications and enhancing resident and employee engagement. To learn more, visit http://DurhamNC.gov/ich/as/bms/Pages/Home.aspx.

###
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://rtpnet.org/pipermail/inc-list/attachments/20131021/690dfcd9/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 2630 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <http://rtpnet.org/pipermail/inc-list/attachments/20131021/690dfcd9/attachment.jpg>