Denton city leaders say they hope a new website will help them gather more feedback on issues facing the community, including a possible smoking ban.
EngageDenton.com will serve as a virtual town hall where residents can offer ideas and suggestions to help officials make decisions, said Katia Boykin, a supervisor in the city planning department.
"It gives you another alternative to get your input and your idea out there so we can take it back and analyze it as a city," she said.
Planning officials initially wanted the site to help with their ongoing review of the city's comprehensive plan, but other city departments quickly saw the potential benefits, Assistant City Manager Fred Greene said.
"Well, it looked so good," Greene said. "And it can answer a lot of questions that the city constantly has in desiring input from the public."
The city is paying about $10,000 a year to MindMixer, an Omaha, Neb.-based company, to maintain the site at least until the comprehensive plan review is complete, which will take about two years, Greene said. The city could keep the site going after that if it proves to be useful, he said.
Planning officials believe they can save money by reducing the number of public meetings associated with the comprehensive plan review, Greene said. Those meetings can get expensive with the consultant there on the clock, he said.
"We believe the benefit [of the website] is going to be more input and fewer large meetings on the comp plan," Greene said.
But the city has no plan to do away with public meetings, he said.
Officials say they also hope the site appeals to Web-savvy residents, especially those in their early 20s to mid-40s who might not attend public meetings because of work or family obligations. The site allows easy sharing on the social media sites Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus.
"I think it's a great start to get more citizens involved in the process, so I'm a fan," said council member Kevin Roden, who took to Twitter to help publicize the launch.
Roden said the city could improve the site by allowing a way for people to create and vote on new topics that may not be on city officials' radar.
The city launched the site with three initial questions on smoking, community gardens and historic preservation. Topics will come and go after about six weeks, officials said.
Council members informally agreed this month to form a citizen committee to study a ban on smoking in restaurants, bars and other workplaces. The Engage Denton website allows people to vote on whether they would support the ban, view a slide presentation from the Jan. 10 council meeting, and submit comments to which other people can read and respond.
The site is also seeking feedback on how the city can promote community gardens and which areas to include in a historic resource survey.
Signing up is free but requires a name, e-mail address, year of birth and zip code.
For more information, visit www.engagedenton.com.
LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com .
