Transcript
Narrator 0:05
In the era of cell phones, internet and social media, technology drives society. Eating, working, maintaining one’s health and even dying, all involve the use of various technological tools. Because of technology’s vast presence in our lives, it is necessary to ask whether technology has a place in modern governance. Mayor Blair Milo of Laporte, Indiana, certainly thinks so. At the Richard M Fairbanks Symposium held at the University of Indianapolis on October 9, 2013, Mayor Milo; Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana; and Mayor Chris MC Barnes of Frankfurt, Indiana, discuss technology’s place in local government.
Blair Milo 0:49
I think there’s any number of ways that technology has changed the way that we do business, in many ways improved it. I would say that having my facebook page has completely changed the way that we communicate with the community, and the way that the community now not only receives information, but then participates in government and in what we’re trying to build for the community, I think that that is recognized by the constituents and by the citizens, and that has really been a huge benefit to government to engage the community in what’s happening. And I think the key that has allowed so much success on specifically my Facebook page, is that it allows people to participate in the discussion. I allow folks to post onto my page what their opinions are, and so I encourage dialog amongst folks, as long as it’s respectful of those that are participating there that please if you want to disagree with me, let’s have that discussion. And that has created a complete different sense amongst the community members to then gives them an opportunity for their voice to be heard, and then to, like I said, participate in what we’re doing for the community.
Narrator 2:02
While Mayor Milo uses technology to personally reach her community, Mayor Buttigieg takes a different approach and utilizes technological tools to promote economic growth.
Pete Buttigieg 2:13
Technology is at the heart of how we’re rebuilding our economy, because we find that old industrial corridors that weren’t desired for anything turn out to be very desirable for data centers. It’s part of how we’re delivering good government. We’re the first city in Indiana to have an open data portal, which means we push out data on everything from where the vacant and abandoned houses are to how much we get paid into a machine readable format for anybody doing what they want with it. It’s important internally, because it helps us grease the wheels of government, and we’ve upgraded a lot of systems just to make everybody more productive. But the thing about technology that people need to understand is that it’s not technology for technology, it’s technology is a better way to do what we already need to do. We talk about social media, for example, the point of all that is to do a better job of the most old-fashioned job that we have, which is communicating with people, listening to people, and empowering them. And technology is only useful in as much as it helps us do that better, and I think it does, and that’s what’s so exciting about being a mayor in these times
Narrator 3:08
Like Buttigieg, Mayor McBarnes sees the value of technology in modern governance, though he warns against over using technology as an elected leader, lest one become disconnected from their constituents.
Chris McBarnes 3:22
We have to be careful when it comes to technology. We in Frankfort are also on the forefront. We have a fiber optics network in Frankfort that’s helping feed our industrial park. It’s helping them transfer information throughout the world, and we’re helping give them competitive pricing to keeping their logistical and overhead costs low. But I will gear the last bit of my comments towards social media. Social media is a beast, and if you begin to feed it, and you better be ready to continue to feed that, it’s a wonderful way to hear the citizen voice, one of the cornerstones of my administration, but in order to stay credible as local leaders, we must continue to feed that social media on a daily basis. But I end with this, and I know this from being a communications major at Butler University, close to 90% of communication is listening, and there is nothing that can ever replace face-to-face communication. So as a leader, although social media is all important, technology is all important in today’s day and age, getting in front of someone and that personal touch and listening and looking into their eye and feeling their emotions is of utmost importance. So never forget that as a leader.
Ted Frantz 4:30
This podcast was produced by the Institute for Civic Leadership and Mayoral Archives and the Department of Communication at the University of Indianapolis. It is made possible by the support of the Richard M Fairbanks Foundation Indiana humanities and the lily endowment. For more information, please see our website, uindy.edu/mayoral.