Given the steady stream of news and controversy coming out of Seattle City Hall, and the state and federal capitols, it's possible to overlook the reach and importance to our daily lives of King County government. King County is responsible for Metro transit, wastewater treatment, public health, criminal and civil justice systems and jails, property tax assessments, an airport, social and community services, and added law enforcement, roads and garbage services in unincorporated areas. That’s quite a “to do” list. All told, King County serves 1.8 million people who live within its 39 cities or unincorporated areas.

Tax- and rate-payers have high expectations of all levels of government. Among shared priorities are excellent service, efficiency and focus, and an ability to effectively listen and collaborate with community interests. Fittingly, the draft strategic plan recently released by King County Executive Dow Constantine includes in its first year priorities, "set standards and expectations for the immediate improvement of customer service," and to "build a culture of performance." Goals are stated in a number of key policy areas and approaches are highlighted for their achievement, one of which is to "promote robust public engagement that informs, involves, and empowers people and communities."

The draft strategic plan could not be more timely for those who live and work in King County and want to share their recommendations with the Executive and County Council on how to build public trust in King County government through improved customer service and public engagement. That's because from May 1 through June 13, anyone who lives or works in King County can participate in self-organized small group discussions - community caucuses, you might say - on these very topics, organized through an award-winning public engagement program called Countywide Community Forums. Privately underwritten by community supporters, most notably Dick Spady of the iconic Seattle institution Dick's Drive-In Restaurants, CCF is powered by self-education, and the fellowship of respectful conversation about important issues. This is not a traditional public forum with the jousting and polarization that comes with large public hearings. Here’s how it works. After watching an informative video, and talking together, participants anonymously fill out a detailed survey, the results of which are used to create a final report to the county which helps guide future decisions. Though it spends no money at all on CCF, the county is directly involved in the program, and provides oversight through its auditor’s office to assure impartiality and integrity. It’s easy to plug in at communityforums.org.

Skeptics will wonder if talk of improved customer service and public engagement by government is really anything more than just that: talk. But times are changing. While face-to-face interaction will always be of high value, the online arena is growing in importance. The current CCF effort also includes a good hard look not only at how well King County citizen customers feel that personnel are handling interactions with them, but also delves into how the County's Web sites are working for them, and what sorts of other online tools would be useful, such as so-called "social networking media," of which Facebook and Twitter are among the best known examples.

This comes just as a major report was released highlighting the importance to U.S. citizens of government Web sites and other online platforms as a tool for public engagement. The Pew Internet and American Life Project's new report, "Government Online" shows that 82 percent of Internet users (representing 61 percent of all U.S. adults) sought information or finalized a transaction on a government Web site in the year preceding the survey. The survey also found that nearly half of Internet users sought information about policy or issues from government sites, and that other popular activities at government sites included researching documents or statistics, checking a department or agency's mission, plus a range of more expected, service-related interactions.

What's especially striking now, according to the report is:

Public use of government Web sites is more "data driven," centered around interest in matters such as stimulus spending, legislative texts, political campaign contributions, and policy research and reports.

It's not only about government Web sites. "Nearly one-third of online adults use..platforms such as blogs, social networking sites, e-mail, online video, or text messaging to get government information."

"Nearly a quarter of Internet users participate in the online debate around government policies or issues, with much of this discussion occurring outside of official government channels."

Interestingly, King County has already begun to embrace real innovation with data and service delivery. The county made available to a young software developer access to real-time Metro bus travel information, 24-7, for all routes. He built "One Bus Away" an application that tells you when your bus is really going to arrive at your stop; it works on Web-enabled “smart phones,” regular Web browsers for desktop and laptop computers, or even via a phone call. The agency known as Public Health – Seattle & King County provides an online database of all inspection reports of restaurants and other food service providers (including schools), searchable by name or zip code. In the U.K., a particularly stellar and user-friendly Web site called Fix My Street allows citizens to report potholes, cracked pavement and curbs, burned out streetlights, graffiti vandalism and fly-dumping, with mapping and report details, and government response times there for all to see. A whole lot of the reported items are getting fixed, and quickly.

Collaboration between governments and software developers is set to grow markedly. Anything that gets us the information or outcomes we need more quickly is a boon. But it’s not just about “mobile apps,” or “civic apps” running on smart phones, or great “Open 311” systems like Fix My Street. Can we find budget data easily - and meaningfully presented - on a government Web site? How about a handy chart plotting growth in employee benefit costs over the last decade? What about identifying the many back-logged road and park repairs already identified by staff, through an online mapping tool with links to the specifics of fixes not yet made, their cost, and the timeline for completion? Perhaps integrate display of that unfinished work with new reports from citizens, of the sort accented by citizens on Fix My Street. Some in the "open government" community also suggest that the time is ripe for tools which allow users to annotate government Web sites and documents. Where, exactly, in that 104-page labor contract online, do you find the base salaries and levels of mandatory wage hikes for the next five years? Should people have to comb through the whole document to fish that out?

Talking about accountability and openness is one thing. Engineering it across the enterprise is the new baseline. All governments face this challenge. We’re in the early innings. But for some observers, the question still lingers: Does government really want its customers to get the best level of service and the most effective means of engagement, including robust disclosure and real “transparency?”

The clear message coming from King County is yes, but your collaboration is required to get it right. Please sign up today at communityforums.org - first to become a citizen councilor, and then to attend or host a small meeting before June 13 at a community location convenient to you, on the current topic of customer service and public engagement. Your opinions and insights really do matter.

Matt Rosenberg is Director of Countywide Community Forums – http://communityforums.org - Founding Editor of the journal Social Capital Review - http://socialcapitalreview.org - and Founder of the independent informational initiative Public Data Ferret - http://tinyurl.com/publicdataferret