Can you fix Humboldt County’s looming $2 million budget shortfall in 140 characters? If so — or if you just have some related, equally brief questions or comments for county officials — then good news: You will now be able to use Twitter, the social media phenomenon sweeping the nation, to interact with your county government.
On Thursday, March 6, the county will be hosting a series of simultaneous community budget meetings around the county. And if you can’t make it in person, whip out your favorite computing device and get Twittering.
Check the press release:
Get out your smartphone, tablet or computer, Humboldt. Submitting a comment or question about the County’s budget just became a lot easier.
For the first time ever, citizens will be able interact live, via Twitter, with County officials during the annual Community Budget Meeting. At this year’s meeting, which will be held Thursday, March 6, staff will present the County’s $300 million-plus budget, and tweets submitted to @HCBudget during the presentation will be read and answered on air, as time permits.
The Community Budget Meeting will be held at five locations around the county, broadcast live on Access Humboldt (Channel 10) and streamed through the County’s web site at co.humboldt.ca.us. The meeting is scheduled to run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Citizens must send their tweets during the first 90 minutes of the meeting in order to have their comment recognized. Any questions not answered during the meeting will be answered afterwards and posted on the County’s web site.
“A goal of the Community Budget Meetings is to learn more about what Humboldt County citizens want from their local government, and what they want to know,” said County Administrative Officer Phillip Smith-Hanes. “We realize people have to work, watch children, or otherwise cannot attend the meetings in person. By opening up this meeting to Twitter, the public has another way to comment on the budget.”
As detailed in the mid-year budget report (video here), the County needs to reduce $2 million out of ongoing General Fund discretionary expenditures in the FY 2014-15 budget. Citizens are invited to share their ideas on how the County could accomplish that goal.
Prior to the Community Meeting, you can join our conversation on the budget via Twitter by using #AskHumCo. Meetings will be held at the following locations:
Scotia Elementary School Conference Room
110 School Road
Scotia, CA 95565South Fork High School Library
6831 Ave. of the Giants
Miranda, CA 95554Pacific Union School Computer Lab
3001 Janes Road
Arcata, CA 95521Humboldt County Office of Education Annex
901 Myrtle Avenue
Eureka, CA 95501Hoopa High School Cafeteria
11400 State Hwy 96
Hoopa, CA 95546
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