Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 23, 1995 TAG: 9501230010
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Bev Floyd never had talked to a politician before this fall, when she purchased her Macintosh 636 personal computer with CD-ROM, but now she meanders through state government like a pro.
Floyd, a Christiansburg housewife who plays the clarinet for the Roanoke Symphony, spends about 10 hours a month cruising the Internet. She recently posted an online message about the governor's proposed budget.
"I only started doing this a day or two ago, and I don't really know if the politicians care what I think, or even if they have computers," Floyd said. "But now that I have a quick and easy way to express my opinions, I may do more of it."
Thanks to the Virginia Forum, citizens are racing along the electronic superhighway like never before, using computers to learn about state government and participate in sometimes-heated political discussions.
In September, Virginia became the fourth state to provide access to government information and establish a message board for comments and debate. Following the lead of Massachusetts, Michigan and Utah, state officials negotiated with America Online, a McLean-based computer services company that boasts 1.5 million subscribers and offers the Virginia Forum among its listings.
According to the system operator's records, users have spent more than 500 hours a month logged onto the service since it got up and running.
"I wasn't quite sure what the demand would be when we started, but to these people a reasonable day seems to be about 18 hours long," said system operator Richard Olsen, who is better known to forum participants by his user name, VaGovRo. "The only time we don't get much use is between 1 and 6 a.m."
But unlike the enthusiastic public, state politicians are still sputtering in the superhighway's break-down lane. Except for the one hour Gov. George Allen spent online on Sept. 27, when the Virginia Forum was unveiled at the State Fair, he hasn't logged on to the service, his staffers said. And though computer users are eager to communicate with their legislators in Richmond, only Lt. Gov. Don Beyer; Sen. Bob Calhoun, R-Alexandria; Sen. John Chichester, R-Fredericksburg; Sen. Walter Stosch, R-Glen Allen; and Del. George Grayson, D-Williamsburg, have electronic mail.
The creators of the Virginia Forum say its purpose was to give citizens access to government documents and a means of discussing issues among themselves, not to provide a direct link to Allen.
"It's an enormous opportunity for citizens of Virginia to have access to documents and speeches that they wouldn't otherwise have," said Cliff Schroeder, communications director for the secretary of administration. "The other purpose of the forum is to encourage interactive dialogue between users online. It was never intended to be a way to send messages to the governor."
Even a folder marked "messages to the governor" doesn't do the trick. It was set up by a user, not the governor's office. Although 39 Virginians have posted complaints, concerns and suggestions there, few - if any - have made it to the governor's desk.
"That folder poses a little bit of a challenge for me," Olsen said.
If the message to the governor contains a question about state services, as opposed to a political opinion, Olsen tries to send along an answer by personal e-mail. He also is compiling a folder of FAQs, computer lingo for Frequently Asked Questions, that will explain the purpose of the forum and clarify that messages to the governor don't go directly to Allen.
In the meantime, though, there's plenty of confusion. Debbie Pitts, Roanoke County's assistant director of recreation, posted a letter to the governor voicing concerns over proposals to fund a tax cut by scaling back on social services. She's gotten no response.
"I'd gone in and looked around, so I knew there was a system operator screening the messages, but I sent it in anyway," Pitts said. "I was hoping the message would get to Allen, but I'm unsure if it has."
For now, Schroeder said, citizens who want to communicate with Allen are better off sticking a 32-cent stamp on an envelope and entrusting their letters to the Postal Service. A separate plan to set up e-mail in the governor's office is under development, but it could take as long as a year to implement. The logistics of staffing e-mail and responding to correspondence are daunting, Schroeder said.
"The problem with e-mail is that people want immediate answers," he said. "Until we figure out a method that we thinks work well enough, we aren't going to take a shot at it."
So instead, the forum's supporters point to the impressive, up-and-running features. On the top of their list is the download library, which includes budget documents, the governor's State of the Commonwealth speech and a spreadsheet program that enables citizens to calculate the effects proposed tax reforms would have on their checkbooks.
But even Schroeder acknowledged that computer-equipped citizens, empowered with facts and figures, are bound to clamor for more involvement.
"I realize that if people are given the information, then they are going to want to talk to their government," he said. "They will want to have input."
Absolutely, say the users, who are chomping at the byte to have their voices heard. "Doesn't government listen?" asked one frustrated forum participant who complained about endless traffic tie-ups in Northern Virginia.
The answer to that question, as with many questions, is: It depends. As far as the forum goes, it depends on how government is defined. Though the governor and most lawmakers don't check in, other state administrators do. In some instances, they've been more than receptive to complaints and suggestions.
Bill Leighty logs into the forum two or three times a week, looking for citizens' input. Until recently Leighty worked for the Department of Motor Vehicles. Now he is the director of Virginia Retirement Services.
While at DMV, Leighty used the forum at least once to bring the state agency and its customers together. A user had posted a message on the forum complaining about DMV's requirement that veterans show an original proof-of-service form to get a veteran's license plate.
"Like me, he'd long since lost his original [proof-of-service form]. He had several copies, but not the original," Leighty said. "I realized this wasn't a good procedure, so the next morning I spoke with the commissioner about it."
Within a day or two, a memo went out to DMV employees saying that copies would be acceptable.
"That's a success story," Olsen said. "Not only did he address the individual's specific problem, but he changed the way the system works within a couple of days."
In addition, Olsen has initiated a weekly letter to managers that highlights additions to the forum and citizens' feedback.
"If I see the opportunity for a state agency to provide a service to people or meet a need, I try to pass the message along to the appropriate person," he said.
That's a start, but some users argue that it's not enough. Especially now that the 1995 General Assembly session is under way, people want to be able to sway lawmakers from their home computers.
Ed Herlihy, a planner in Fairfax, has posted several requests that legislators get involved in the forum, but he said politics stand in the way.
"The problem is that someone would have to manage it," Herlihy said. "The governor's people probably don't want to give up any control, and for sure the legislature doesn't want a forum managed by the governor's staff."
Paul Thielen, a Naval officer who lives in Hampton, is one of the forum's biggest fans. He logs on frequently under the user name OHCRASH and contributes to several ongoing debates, railing against unfunded mandates and advocating school voucher systems.
"It makes it a lot easier to jump on my delegate's chest and beat him around the head and shoulders if I'm armed with the information," he said, laughing.
Thielen acknowledged, though, that local politicians in Hampton do not know about the forum firsthand.
"Everyone I've quizzed to date has not tried it," he said. "I've asked every member of our city council. I'm 0 for 7 on that. I would hope it catches on."
Sen. Bob Calhoun, R-Alexandria, has used e-mail to communicate with his constituents for a year.
"It's handy for both the constituents and the legislators," he said. "I find it's a lot easier to write a response back because it's quicker than a letter. The constituents seem to be more candid because the computer is informal. There's no English teacher looking over your shoulder."
Calhoun is hopeful that other legislators will follow him online.
"It is still to some extent a generational problem," he said. "But it's not as foreign as it was a year ago."
Or maybe it is. An attempt to compile legislators' e-mail addresses revealed that many aides are straggling far behind the technological boom. Here are a few of their more classic comments:
"He must not because I don't know what you are talking about."
"Are we supposed to?"
"We don't even have voice mail."
And finally, "You mean you can e-mail all the way to Richmond from Roanoke?"
America Online subscribers can access Virginia Online by typing "Virginia" in the keyword field. Nonsubscribers can send a message to the public forum via e-mail VaGovROaol.com, but cannot access Virginia Online directly. And those interested in communicating with the Roanoke Times & World-News now can send e-mail messages to the newsroom at rtimes1infi.net. If you want to send the message to a specific reporter, please include the reporter's name in your message.
by CNB