Selectboard Seeks Opinions through "Localocracy”

June, 2, 2010
South Hadley, MA--- The South Hadley Selectboard has endorsed an experiment to obtain opinions from residents.

Selectboard Chair John Hine announced that at its May 18 meeting, the Board endorsed a trial of http://localocracy.org for South Hadley.

According to Vice-Chair Robert Judge, the website drew a story on local public radio and has been endorsed by the Amherst Town Manager and State Senator Stan Rosenberg.

The founders of Localocracy, Conor White-Sullivan and Aaron Soules, presented the idea to the S. Hadley Selectboard at the May meeting.  “There appeared to be a consensus on the Board and in the audience that we should take the next step,” said Hine.  That next step is to get at least 50 S. Hadley residents with an email address to agree to participate in the trial or “beta,” as it is known. 

According to White-Sullivan, "We want to create a way not just to distribute ideas but to allow citizens to find the best ideas and have a voice themselves." The idea is to set up a nonpartisan site that poses questions on local issues and accepts opinions from readers. But unlike some blogs and local Web sites, those responders must use their real names and be residents of the town. Participants will be able to rank others' ideas so that viewers can tell which arguments other readers have found persuasive.

Judge said, “On the internet, most people would prefer a place where they can know they are interacting with people who have a real stake in their community, and not an anonymous screen name representing someone who may not live here.”

The Amherst site can be viewed at http://localocracy.com Any South Hadley resident who would like to participate in the South Hadley trial should send an email to Selectboard@SouthHadley.org.