Not everyone has time to attend official city meetings and formally weigh in on issues, projects, services and events, but the city ofTempewants to hear from all interested community members on these topics.
To make communication even easier, city staff have created Tempe Forum, a free online tool that officials say already is generating productive feedback.
Available at www.tempe.gov/forum, this Town Hall-style webpage offers community members a chance to learn about many different issues and, if they wish, offer opinions and ideas about them.
Users can subscribe to the service to get notified when new questions are posted, or they can simply check back often to the webpage to see new questions.
The latest question on the site is about the 2011 Fiesta Bowl Block Party inTempe. The city wants to get input on what party-goers liked about the event and their suggestions for improvement.
Tempe Forum uses software by Peak Democracy, a non-partisan company that specializes in facilitating online conversations and increasing community engagement in cities and towns nationwide.
To use the system, visit www.tempe.gov/forum , read what others are saying and post an opinion. First-time users register with Peak Democracy – not with the city – and provide name, address and email address.
Tempe does not get reports on the identities of users. Peak Democracy uses the location information is map which comments come from which areas of the city.
Tempe Forum is an additional tool available to community members who want to engage in what’s happening in the city. Other ways to connect include email subscriptions, social media, newsletters and more – www.tempe.gov/newsroom  provides a listing of all available options.
