A Reminder About Manners When Commenting

Dear Readers:>

Over the last two days, there has been a spate of anonymous comments that include mean-spirited attacks pointed at local public officials. I have deleted the worst offenders.

I can’t believe I have to remind folks — who presumably should know this already — that name-calling and vitriol have no place here. It is one thing to disagree with someone, and it’s OK even not to like them very much. But it is NOT okay, at least not here, to be mean about it.

I allowed anonymous commenting because the registration process was making it difficult for some people, not because I think anonymity is OK in the public square (unless there are compelling reasons for it). I knew at the time that removing that hurdle might open the forum up to a different tone of discourse, so I have been watching for it. I am considering ways to address this, including moderating comments (so they must be approved before they appear), or turning back on the registration system.

In the meantime, please make every attempt to be decent and civil as you express your opinions. Remember that public officials are just as human as you are, and deserve just as much respect. Just being in the public eye does not give anyone license to turn them into punching bags.

This is the byproduct of a good thing, I suppose: readership has risen so more people are noticing Rockville Central. And they are responding viscerally to some of the issues raised here. But it is of the utmost importance to me that this remain a civil forum.

Thanks for listening.

[UPDATE: Sadly, I have had to re-enable registration for commenting. That means you'll need to register with Google (it's free) if you want to post a comment. Here is my explanation:

I just deleted (for the second time) an inappropriate comment that is mean-spirited.

The person appended the following to the comment: "Brad, the fact that you deleted this comment earlier today shows that you do NOT want citizens to have a voice, just your spin on the issues."

I feel the need to respond, on behalf of Rockville Central as an entity.

This person is choosing to remain anonymous, which is itself a red flag and indicates he or she does not wish to stand behind their words. If anyone were to spend even a half hour looking through the posts, comments, and contributor opinions on Rockville Central, they would see that it is precisely the opposite of my intention for this to be just my "spin on the issues." However, I insist that it remain civil.

This blog is created using free tools ("Blogger") that are available to anybody. It's just sweat equity we have here. Anyone who wishes to speak in ways that aren't tolerated here are more than welcome -- and encouraged -- to set up their own systems.

Don't freeride on months of hard work building trust and creating a civil space -- and then turn around and say we're being unfair when we ask you to tone it down and follow the rules.]

Test Of The System

Dear Readers–>

This is just a test of a liveblogging feature I have activated for election night.

At key points, I will post relevant election status. I promise not to inundate you. Tonight’s volume will subside in the morning.

As soon as we have final election totals, we will publish an end-of-night update.

Thank you

Stay Tuned For Election Results

>Shameless plug: Stay tuned to Rockville Central for election night coverage. We’ll have as up-to-the-minute information as we can manage, as well as interviews, photos, and videos of the candidates.

If you simply must receive your information from the City, here is the link for info.

Thank You, Rockville Central Readers

Last night, at 9:56 and 29 seconds Eastern time, for the first time, we passed 500 “page views” (or “hits”) in one day, on our way to an all-time high of 573. According to our measures, by midnight we had had 286 visitors to >Rockville Central.

[UPDATE: The next day, Election Day, blew those numbers out of the water, with 1,011 page views and 414 unique visitors. I am certain we won't sustain that, but it was nice!]

Since we began on Memorial Day weekend, our circulation has been increasing slowly but steadily. In the last weeks, as the election campaigns have heated up, it has taken off. Our intent when we started Rockville Central was to create a vibrant, safe space for all kinds of respectful yet spirited debate, and a one-stop hub for local community news. I have always said I would be happy with ten readers. This growth just leaves me not quite knowing what to say.

So I will say this: We pledge to you to always try our hardest to make this a different kind of place, without partisan political motive, where ideas are discussed, useful news is shared, and a common affection for Rockville is maintained.

We have a few new ideas for the next few months, so watch this space!

I especially want to thank every candidate who is running for City office this year. You took us at our word when we said we would strive to be fair. It would have been easy to ignore us, or mistrust us, but instead you engaged, were forthcoming, and graciously let us into your orbits. Your acceptance, in no small part, drove the health of the overall site.

Thank you.

Thank you, Brad!

I want to extend a huge thanks to Brad Rourke for all the work he has done to provide us Rockville Central readers with information on all the candidates in one easy to read location.>

With just a click of the mouse we could see interviews from all the candidates, podcasts, newspaper articles, etc. without having to do any web searching ourselves.

I’m grateful that Mr. Rourke has such a fondness for politics that he was kind enough to spend his free time getting the rest of us more involved.

Thank you, Brad.

UPDATE to Campaign Finance Reports

> Some candidates and other players took issue with the way certain pieces of data were characterized in this recent article recapping the candidates’ second-period finance reports. No, I won’t say who.

Not only that, but one candidate who had not filed by the deadline (Monday at 5pm) came through, so that data is now available too.

So, if you click the link, you’ll see it’s been updated, with the updates indicated.

(Image Ellison.)

CORRECTION To Real Rockville Membership

>CORRECTION: In our recent item on candidates’ finances for October, a paragraph about the PAC Real Rockville implied that its chair, Lora Meisner, is also heading the campaigns of Drew Powell and Anne Robbins. The sentence in question was unclear and I did not catch the ambiguity. It should read:

Real Rockville, the City’s only registered PAC, headed by Lora Meisner, and which counts among its members Drew Powell’s and Anne Robbins’ campaign managers, reported raising nothing in October. Its previously reported total stands at $119, consisting of the initial in-kind services donated by Meisner for a website.

(The changed portion is in italics.)

Apologies to Rockville Central readers, and to the campaigns of Powell and Robbins, for the confusion.

Rockville Central Team Member Joins Commission

> At tonight’s meeting of the Mayor and Council, Rockville Central team member Cynthia Cotte Griffiths was named a member of the Human Services Advisory Commission.

The Commission, according to the City, “provides advice and guidance to the Mayor and Council on human service needs in Rockville and how best to address them.” Cindy’s term ends in 2010.

This is a well-deserved appointment. Anyone who knows Cindy knows how tirelessly she has worked for people from all walks of life.

Congratulations Cindy!

To Our Readers: New Comment Policy

Dear Readers:>

Rockville Central has changed its comment policy. In the past, we have required those leaving comments to register with Google’s Blogger service, as well as type in a “word code” to prove they aren’t a spam robot. Now, we are experimenting with allowing anyone (registered or unregistered) to comment.

This is an experiment; we will see how it goes. I may switch it back if there is too much spam or abuse.

I am ambivalent about this move. In my opinion, there is already far, far too much anonymity on the Internet (and in society in general). But, the registration procedure seemed to be getting in the way of some people leaving comments who wanted to be heard. Admittedly, it’s a complicated process. And, as our readership has increased steadily over time, more people have expressed a desire to take part in simpler ways. So, for now, I am leaning in the direction of simplicity and access.

But, in return, let me ask something of you.

Rockville Central is a local resource, and our driving philosophy is that we are all neighbors in this town and we all need to get along. I strongly believe that means that people who speak up in this forum ought to own their own words and identify themselves. So, for instance, I make it a point to fully identify myself by name in anything I do related to Rockville Central (or anywhere on the Internet for that matter). And, Contributor Opinions will almost always be signed, except in unusual and highly limited cases.

I understand that not everyone agrees with me on that. For some people, there may be personal safety concerns when speaking up. I can also imagine a situation where someone is blowing a whistle and needs protection from retaliation. But, for the majority of cases, there is no need for anonymity.

So here is my request. When posting comments, please consider using your actual name, or close to it.

Or at least, something human-seeming. Please don’t just call yourself a “voter” or “concerned citizen” from some area in Rockville. There are plenty of places for anonymous commentary. I would like it to be minimized here. As a general rule, if one cannot stand by one’s own opinion, one ought to think twice about whether one really needs to post it. If you feel you need to remain anonymous, please say why.

Like I say, I am not going to require this — but taking responsibility for our words is core to what this blog is about.

I’ll get off my soap box now. Please feel free to agree, disagree, or propose some other idea…in the comments! Or, feel free to drop me a line.

Thanks for reading, and making this blog so vibrant.

–Brad Rourke

POTD Slideshow

Thanks to a miracle of modern science, we are able to provide the following slideshow that will, if you are patient, cycle through every single POTD that >Rockville Central has published, starting with the first. Woot!

Come back often!

Want to add a POTD? Email it to us. Higher resolutions are better. The rules are: it must be original, it must not be published elsewhere, and it must gave been taken in the City of Rockville.

P.S. Some photos may be a little out of order. You will just have to deal.

A New Feature: Contributor Opinion

We are happy to share with our loyal >Rockville Central readers a new occasional feature called “Contributor Opinion.”

Why? It goes directly to our role and what we are about. As you know, Rockville Central does not take a position on issues and candidates. We’ve stated that clearly and regard it to be fundamental.

However, in the months since we’ve began, a number of readers have approached us with ideas for articles and opinions that they would like to air. Those opinions are an important part of civic life, and they deserve a fair place to be heard and commented upon.

At the same time, many readers have said they come to Rockville Central because they see it as a neutral place for information where they can get straight talk without opinion. How to do both? That was our dilemma.

We think the new Contributor Opinion feature will answer an important need.

Think of this new feature like the op-ed pages of a newspaper. Anyone can submit a piece (or an idea) for consideration, just by sending us an email. We’ll edit them and publish them with an eye toward fairness, comprehensiveness, and liveliness. We will edit them, both for length and for content, but we will do it in conjunction with the author.

Every Contributor Opinion piece will be clearly marked as “opinion” and the text will be distinctive, so you can easily tell what’s what.

Let me send this special invitation to all candidates for Rockville city offices: Please submit pieces for consideration. (Try to limit them to 3-4 paragraphs.) We value your voice and people want to hear — directly from you — what your plans are and how you see your role.

Depending on volume of submissions, we’ll run Contributor Opinion columns once every week or two. It may be more, it may be less, depending on what we get.

This neighborhood blog is a work in progress. We want it to be useful to our neighbors and fellow Rockville residents. And we want it to be fun.

It is also completely volunteer-driven. We do it on our free time. We welcome your feedback and comments. We know we do some things well and other things less well. Let us know.

(Image stoopad.com)