Last week, as an impromptu idea, the Vanguard solicited questions from its readers that would be presented to Mayor Dan Wolk at Morning with the Mayor at Common Grounds last Friday. As it turned out, he had a full complement of citizens there with their own questions.
While the mayor thought that there were a lot of very good questions submitted, in the end he was a bit reluctant to respond to questions from anonymous posters.
After some discussion, Mayor Wolk is agreeable towards answering Vanguard reader-submitted questions, but under certain conditions.
First, they have to be submitted under a person’s actual name. While the Vanguard has always supported anonymous posters, under these conditions, I can understand the mayor’s reluctance to engage with anonymous posters.
Second, this has to be from members of the public. This is not a press conference. So the questions must come from members of the public, not the Vanguard editorial board or staff.
Third, being mindful of the mayor’s time, we will submit the five best questions to him. He couldn’t make guarantees on timing for response, but at least with five questions to start with, we can hope for a good turnaround.
This is obviously a pilot project, and so how well it works this time will determine whether this is a regular feature or a one-time effort.
i left a bunch of questions last week, i get why dan wolk would not want to answer my questions. i unfortunately don’t have the option to do so under my own name. i was hoping some of the named posters would pick up the slack.
Matt… would like to point out that folk who are comfortable using their name can e-mail Dan, or show up on Friday. I feel I can.
Yet, for those who are comfortable using their name, if directed thru the Vanguard, would be subject to someone’s (David/editorial board?) “filter” of asking one “of the five best” questions (a subjective judgement, to be sure). Not seeing the “value” of that “filter”, so when motivated, I’ll ‘deal direct’.
Hpierce – The purpose of the filter is just to keep from inundating Dan with more questions than he can respond to. People are welcome of course to email Dan privately, our purpose to foster more of a public discussion.
“in the end he was a bit reluctant to respond to questions from anonymous posters.”
A wise man; I’m reluctant to participate in a comments section with the very same anonymous posters.
“we will submit the five best questions to him.”
Define “best”. Your best ain’t my best.
“He couldn’t make guarantees on timing for response,”
Whoa! Can’t you just record what he says and print it? That’s what would happen if someone showed up, right? He’d say something?