Great ideas. I'm interested to see what is done with the agendas. Maybe then I can point to Portland as an example and get some changes made to Gresham's system as well.

I was really hopeful when they contracted for a web overhaul, but saddened to see things became harder to find (you have to figure out if what you're looking for goes under "work", "live", or "play" for instance). I would have thought there would be at least a drop-down menu to go with them to help you out.

There are a lot of us who want to stay informed and be active, but for various reasons (work, school, family obligations, etc.) just can't make the meetings and aren't available when they show on tv. Having things easy to find makes for much more informed people. And when you're informed it is a lot easier to be involved.

Has anyone looked to see if there are any cities, counties, etc. out there who are already successful with some of this?

Note sure how relevant it is to this specific effort/project, but how about streamlining (perhaps via a simple wiki-like mark-up) contextual linking to supporting documents, the city code, published regulatory documents, data-sets, and so on, within the agenda (and all web published materials from the city actually).

This idea could hopefully grow to include everything form press statement, meeting transcripts and minutes, etc.

I like the RSS (I'm subscribed to a lot of blogs and check RSS feeds several times/day). I also like the public comment thread. I agree with Jenny's perspective, some of us aren't able to attend meetings and the ability to submit comment on an agenda item via the web is very much appreciated.

There ought to be an easily accessible public web archive of the full text of every resolution and ordinance passed on portlandonline.com. The documents associated with each agenda item should stay posted, along with the agenda, permanently on portlandonline. The transcripts of the City Council meetings should be posted, with links to them on the archived agendas. I have occasionally stumbled upon the transcripts -- I know they exist -- but in my experience they're difficult if not impossible to find on portlandonline.

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It's not a concern to anybody that the city is pouring resources into efforts that will further marginalize those living in poverty who can't afford Internet access? I know many who's only source for this kind of information is the county library system, and the computers there are still stuck on IE6, which Microsoft is phasing out and which don't work right with many of these "social media" tools. Google Reader, for example, has dropped support, and Facebook & Twitter are barely operable.

I think the city's focus should be on ensuring access to this information for all citizens, not just the comfortably middle-class who can afford iPhones.