The Seattle City Council is convening a new committee today that they say aims to improve communication between council members and their constituents.

The Open Government Committee, led by Council President Richard Conlin, the will explore and recommend ways to improve citizens’ access to public documents and seek more diverse community input on issues affecting the city in advance of legislative action.

“We are very pleased to launch this committee,” said Conlin. “My hope is that we will improve the ease with which constituents can engage in the democratic process, resulting in greater input from a broader and more diverse group of citizens. Ultimately, this will strengthen local government by providing the council with a more complete understanding of the will of the people.”

Council members Bruce Harrell, Sally Clark and Nick Licata will serve on the committee, with Harrell serving as Vice Chair.  Potential work plan items include:

- A review of Legislative department and city procedures for responding to public records requests, and considering legislation that requires every department to have certain rules for responding to public disclosure requests.

- Create a new customer service system and oversee the investigation of tools and costs for citizen polling, city services and legislative information that can be customized, and providing access to additional informational audio and video services.

- Solicit and consider community suggestions to increase the level of citizen engagement in local government.

The committee meets for the first time today and will meet again n March 20, April 17, May 1 and June 5. All meetings are open to the public and will take place from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at
Seattle City Hall in Council Chambers at 600 4th Ave.