ROANOKE, ROANOKE COUNTY CITED
The Roanoke Valley continues to get national recognition for its high-tech initiatives.
For the fourth time in five years. Roanoke City ranked first among cities in the 75,000-124,999 population category.
And for the second year running, Roanoke County was named the most high-tech county for its size.
The evaluations came in the 2005 Digital Cities and Digital Counties survey by the Center for Digital Government.
In Roanoke’s case, the city scored big for its geographic information system (a highly detailed online map and information database), the wireless Internet connections offered downtown, the availability of city-government information online and more.
Some of the work affects citizens directly — online real estate information, for example.
Much more, however, is there to make city workers’ jobs easier, by allowing them to access the data they need while on the job, without having to return to their offices several times a day.
In 2004, Roanoke County gained recognition for its GIS and Web-based services for citizens. In ’05, public safety features were cited for the win.
WALL-SOCKET SURFING
Manassas has become the first U.S. city where you can access high-speed Internet service simply by plugging into a common electrical wall socket.
In the past, Internet access has required the use of a phone line, cable television service or a satellite subscription.
The technology being put to use in Manassas is called broadband over power line (BPL) and it carries data over the city’s electrical grid.
The service, which costs $28.95 per month, has been phased in gradually across the city since July.
The American Public Power Association’s Demonstration of Energy Efficient Developments program gave Manassas a grant in 2001 to study BPL as a way of providing Internet access over existing power lines. The city’s early pursuit of the technology led to it being the first to offer it to all residents.
Manassas Mayor Douglas Waldron called it “a major enhancement of what our city-owned utility provides to its customers.”
BUT WILL IT FIX THE POTHOLES?
Charlottesville has designed a new Web site that lets residents do everything from requesting sidewalk and pothole repairs to registering for recreation classes and reporting burned-out streetlights.
Site visitors also will be able to pay utility bills, parking tickets and property taxes, buy dog licenses, apply for city jobs and attempt to get on boards and commissions.
Charlottesville again ranked in the Top Ten Digital Cities in America, for cities its size. It was ranked third in its population category: 30,000-74,999.
The survey named Blacksburg the second most technological city in the same population category (30,000 to 74,999). Lynchburg came in fifth.
http://www.charlottesville.org .
CAMPAIGN DISCLOSURE IMPROVES
A California-based study ranked Virginia the most improved state in campaign-finance disclosure last year. The state’s overall rank rose from 22 to 7. California, Florida and Washington had the best disclosure programs.
Rankings were based on the strength of campaign disclosure laws; availability of electronic filing programs; the degree of public access to campaign-finance information; and the usability of state disclosure Web sites.
Virginia’s improvement was attributed to a comprehensive, searchable database of itemized contributions and expenditures, at a site maintained by the State Board of Elections.
As campaign spending soars, so does the public’s interest in online disclosure of who gives and who gets.
The Virginia Public Access Project, a nonprofit group that cleans up the state’s data, logged 664,000 visits to VPAP.org during 2005.
That was two-and-a-half times as many visits as recorded in the previous year.
VPAP introduced a new online feature in early fall, presenting contributions in a locality-by-locality map to illustrate contribution levels in a graphic format.
OLD TOWN, NEW TECH
Old Town Alexandria has gone wireless. A year-long experiment allows anyone with a wireless device to plop down on Old Town’s brick sidewalks, boot up and access the Internet at no charge.
The network is not secure, meaning sensitive personal or financial information sent across it will not be encrypted, and should not be used for purposes such as banking.
“Our project is very narrowly tailored to serve a unique outdoor area of our city,” said Craig Fifer, the city’s e-government manager. “Wireless Alexandria has virtually no impact on commercial Internet service providers.”
Wireless Alexandria can be accessed by anyone using a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop or personal digital assistant. Wi-Fi devices can connect to the Internet wirelessly, without cords, cables or special software. Many new laptops and PDAs come standard with Wi-Fi capability. Laptops and some PDAs without the feature can be upgraded inexpensively.
The city spent about $14,000 for equipment and $650 per month for required Internet bandwidth.
Arlington County also has created an “electronic town square,” providing free high-speed wireless Internet outdoors in its Courthouse neighborhood.
NORFOLK TAKES THE PLUNGE – SLIGHTLY
After years of foot-dragging, Norfolk City Council began televising council meetings on Oct. 25.
Commented the Virginian-Pilot, “It’s high time. Norfolk is the lone holdout among its South Hampton Roads neighbors, and one of the last in the entire state, to broadcast its council sessions.”
But, hold the applause, it added. Norfolk’s council has chosen to air mostly night meetings; citizens who work normal hours can already attend those. It’s the Tuesday afternoon sessions and informal meetings — where much of the council’s real work is done — to which greater numbers of citizens have less access.”
ONLINE ACCESS ADVANCES
Rockingham County’s Circuit Court Clerk Wayne Harper is joining other clerks in putting deed information online, making it accessible to subscribers with just a few clicks of a mouse. The information includes deeds, mortgage papers, final divorce decrees, judgments and liens, wills, financial statements and other papers.
Clerks were given until 2006 by the General Assembly to offer remote access to public records, including those containing Social Security numbers and other “personal information.” Users must sign up for the service, pay a fee and use a password to gain access.
Harper said, “This is being done all over the United States. People are doing more electronic filing.” The online system will be safe because it will be a secure site, he said.
B.J. Ostergren, a critic of the subscription system, doubts that such systems are secure. She told the Daily News-Record she knows it is illegal for Virginia clerks to alter documents — that’s why she’s hoping the General Assembly will pass a bill allowing them to black out SSNs before the documents are posted.
Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, said he would be in favor of such a proposal.
Fairfax Circuit Court Clerk John Frey doesn’t see a problem.
“It’s a big benefit to the citizens,” Frye said. “It’s a benefit to legitimate businesses trying to do work for the public.”
Frey has fallen victim to identity theft, not from online public records, but from his credit card. “There is a much better chance to have your identity stolen from a credit card you used paying lunch than with public documents,” he said.
The office of the Fairfax clerk has offered remote access to subscribers for more than 15 years.