not sufficient

It's good to know that Bruce Harrell is interested in hearing from constituents ("Councilman frustrated over limited feedback", Sept.4) and perhaps a new online portal will attract more users than the existing email links through the city's Web site. But Harrell and his colleagues seem determined to ignore what every successful community leader already knows: The city's public officials need to make themselves available to the citizens in person, on a regular basis. Even our national congressional representatives hold town hall meetings with constituents each year.

The insistence on solely using online communications is an unrealistic approach by local public officials. Some constituents simply prefer to talk to a live human being. In my experience, email communication works well with certain council members but not others, who act as though they couldn't be bothered with responding to serious citizen concerns. Instead, they try and hide away from public scrutiny when it suits them.

The council has a habit of only holding community meetings when a specific issue is coming down the pipeline for legislation or is deemed a "hot-button" topic by the local media. Instead of cherry-picking the issues that they want to talk about, council members should schedule regular public meetings around the city, in alternating neighborhood venues, for the simple purpose of staying in touch with the community -- and letting citizens ask about any local topic they wish to, without rules imposed.

Engagement with citizens, for its own sake, has been sorely lacking with the current and recent denizens of City Hall. The council members ought to try it. Sometimes just showing up is enough to make a positive impression.

Mickey Horwitz

Seattle