Walking around, driving around, I am struck at the lack of PRESENCE politics has in and around Mountaindale this close to an election. This confuses me for numerous reasons, the least of which is the huge issue of fracking looming over our community...where are people and more importantly, where are the politicians, those in office seeking re-election, and those looking to get elected? Shouldn't they be more visible and accessible, or is the problem far bigger than one of visibility and accessibility?
I would love asking those running for office in Fallsburg, in Sullivan County a few questions, find out where they stand on the issues...it is the 22nd of October, I know people are running for office, but have not seen any politicians here in Mountaindale knocking on doors introducing themselves, have not seen a "Meet the Candidates" night scheduled for the five percent of Fallsburg residents that reside here in our hamlet. I have not seen political campaign signs in the number and variety I am used to seeing. Thinking maybe I was missing something, or perhaps blind to our local politics, wanting to know who was running for office and what their positions are on the issues before I go to the fire house and vote, I did a Google search for "Fallsburg NY Politics"
What I found, or more appropriately did not find truly shocked me. There is not one single politician, one single article on Fallsburg politics on the first page of the Google Search. Thinking there had to be some kind of a mistake or that my search terms needed improvement, I did a second search for Town of Fallsburg Politics and the first entry on page one in the sixth position was actually our own Mountaindale News blog that happened to mention the Democratic Party...the article really had nothing to do with politics.
Looking at my search results, I find myself pondering...
What does it say about our community when local politicians seem to be so absent on the internet? How can we as a community compete in a 21st Century Global Economy when our own local politicians seem so behind the times? No Democratic or Republican blog for the town of Fallsburg, no party web sites, the town seemingly devoid of an internet presence when it comes too all things political in a community of some 10,000 people. One has to wonder...right now the Town of Fallsburg, its elected officials are negotiating a new contract with Time Warner...how well equipped are they to negotiate when they themselves do not have an internet presence, do not seem to grasp the importance of being plugged into Social Media in 2011?
Do not want to paint a picture of a barren desert, as there is some light out upon the Horizon. Our town supervisor Steven Vegliante does have a LinkedIn page, though it is more for his personal business and reputation than for anything related to our local politics. If any of the other town supervisors are plugged in on the internet, their presence is so well hidden as to not exist. As mentioned in an earlier article, our community, Sullivan County needs far greater, more reliable internet service if we are going to compete for jobs and industry moving forward. For that access to occur, we need elected officials who not only see the importance of world class internet access, but are themselves fully plugged into and using the internet in acting as our advocates when it comes to renegotiating contracts with the Time Warner's of our world.
I would challenge all of our elected officials to begin using the power of the internet...start up a blog that allows you to communicate and have dialogue with the citizens you represent. Get yourselves a twitter account so you can send out important messages and notices instantaneously to the populace. Not sure where to start? Drop me a note, will be more than happy to hold a seminar here in Mountaindale for any politicians wanting to plug in and avail themselves to the new dawn that is Social Media and the World Wide Web...come next election season, let my Google Search for Fallsburg NY Politics find a first search page filled top to bottom with our local elected officials.
I would love asking those running for office in Fallsburg, in Sullivan County a few questions, find out where they stand on the issues...it is the 22nd of October, I know people are running for office, but have not seen any politicians here in Mountaindale knocking on doors introducing themselves, have not seen a "Meet the Candidates" night scheduled for the five percent of Fallsburg residents that reside here in our hamlet. I have not seen political campaign signs in the number and variety I am used to seeing. Thinking maybe I was missing something, or perhaps blind to our local politics, wanting to know who was running for office and what their positions are on the issues before I go to the fire house and vote, I did a Google search for "Fallsburg NY Politics"
What I found, or more appropriately did not find truly shocked me. There is not one single politician, one single article on Fallsburg politics on the first page of the Google Search. Thinking there had to be some kind of a mistake or that my search terms needed improvement, I did a second search for Town of Fallsburg Politics and the first entry on page one in the sixth position was actually our own Mountaindale News blog that happened to mention the Democratic Party...the article really had nothing to do with politics.
Looking at my search results, I find myself pondering...
What does it say about our community when local politicians seem to be so absent on the internet? How can we as a community compete in a 21st Century Global Economy when our own local politicians seem so behind the times? No Democratic or Republican blog for the town of Fallsburg, no party web sites, the town seemingly devoid of an internet presence when it comes too all things political in a community of some 10,000 people. One has to wonder...right now the Town of Fallsburg, its elected officials are negotiating a new contract with Time Warner...how well equipped are they to negotiate when they themselves do not have an internet presence, do not seem to grasp the importance of being plugged into Social Media in 2011?
Do not want to paint a picture of a barren desert, as there is some light out upon the Horizon. Our town supervisor Steven Vegliante does have a LinkedIn page, though it is more for his personal business and reputation than for anything related to our local politics. If any of the other town supervisors are plugged in on the internet, their presence is so well hidden as to not exist. As mentioned in an earlier article, our community, Sullivan County needs far greater, more reliable internet service if we are going to compete for jobs and industry moving forward. For that access to occur, we need elected officials who not only see the importance of world class internet access, but are themselves fully plugged into and using the internet in acting as our advocates when it comes to renegotiating contracts with the Time Warner's of our world.
I would challenge all of our elected officials to begin using the power of the internet...start up a blog that allows you to communicate and have dialogue with the citizens you represent. Get yourselves a twitter account so you can send out important messages and notices instantaneously to the populace. Not sure where to start? Drop me a note, will be more than happy to hold a seminar here in Mountaindale for any politicians wanting to plug in and avail themselves to the new dawn that is Social Media and the World Wide Web...come next election season, let my Google Search for Fallsburg NY Politics find a first search page filled top to bottom with our local elected officials.
