Government 2.0: Handling a city budget crisis

Ed Morrison · Government 2.0: Handling a city budget crisis

December 12th, 2009

Cleveland’s got budget problems…

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson orders furlough days for non-union employees

Here’s how Santa Cruz dealt with their budget challenges:

Last spring, the city was facing a $9.2 million budget deficit and they needed to come up with budget solutions that would not incite riots nor render the government incapable of delivering its obligated services. By using an online collaboration tool, city officials decided to tap their electorate to help resolve the budget crises and set an economic development strategy that would preserve the city’s unique cultural and environmental hallmarks, Mr. Koht said.

With the help of UserVoice, a San Francisco-based company who helps structure and manage online feedback, the city set up the website within eight days, spearheaded by volunteers and with no budget. The UserVoice forum collected ideas, reduced redundancy and structured a ranking system so the best ideas on how to fix the budget bubbled to the top. This was important in getting more participants involved and keeping the outliers from controlling the debate, Koht said.

Gov 2.0 practitioners on display during online conference