Participation Guidelines
The City of Flagstaff (the “City”) has partnered with OpenGov, a third-party online forum provider, to create a civic engagement platform that will allow the citizens of Flagstaff get more involved in City government. Flagstaff Community Forum is a forum for the discussion of proposed City projects and upcoming policy topics related to local government in the City and its partner agencies. The topics are generated by City staff, commissions, and Council for the purpose of public participation in current government decision making.
To ensure that all voices are heard and that forum participants are able to speak freely about the posted topics, participants who register to use the forum must agree to not post disruptive statements. Disruptive statements include the following:
- Statements that do not relate to the posted topic;
- Personal attacks and statements that threaten or abuse other forum participants, members of the public, City staff or City officials;
- Statements that discriminate on the basis of race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual preference, age, region, disability, etc.
- Hate speech of any kind;
- Statements containing any sort of commercial advertising or soliciting funds, goods, or services;
- Repetitive or meaningless messages (“spam”);
- A statement from a user who has falsified their registration information with the intent to post multiple statements in one topic or to misrepresent their city of residence; and
- Statements that include obscene, pornographic, abusive, or otherwise illegal material.
OpenGov, acting as the forum monitor, will remove any disruptive statements that are posted on the forum. Forum participants who post disruptive statements may lose their posting privileges.
Frequently asked questions about the participation guidelines
Why does Open Town Hall monitor for disruptive statements?
OpenGov is a non-partisan company dedicated to building public trust in government and broadening civic engagement. Many people will not participate, if the forum has disruptive statements.
Does Open Town Hall find many disruptive statements?
No. Disruptive statements are quite rare - less than one in a thousand statements on OpenGov moderated topics nationwide are disruptive.
What does Open Town Hall do if they find a disruptive statement?
OpenGov
- moves the statement to a different web page,
- describes the problem in an email to the author, and
- invites the author to change the statement.
Does Open Town Hall ever edit or delete statements?
Never. Only the statement's author can edit or delete a statement. If a statement is removed from the public website, it will still be seen by the City of Flagstaff and be part of the public record.
If I disagree with someone, can I post my opinion?
Yes. Open Town Hall encourages open dialog and debate which, by necessity, includes disagreements.
How do I know if my statement is a 'disagreement' or a 'personal attack'?
Personal attacks are disparaging remarks which impute motives to a person's action. Statements of fact, or of your own opinion are generally not personal attacks.
Here are some examples of statements which are, and are not, personal attacks.
Personal Attack v. Not A Personal Attack
He is a liar. V. He said he did X, but in fact he did Y.
She misrepresented the truth. V. I don't believe what she said.
He is greedy. V. He is making money from this project.
It is merely a power play on her part. V. She will announce her candidacy soon.
Do you ride Mountain Line? (Pre-COVID-19 or currently)
What would you add or change about the DCC to improve your transit experience (examples include more seating, larger waiting area, food/ beverage)?
Any chance of a commitment to true snow removal (not just putting peds in the snow crossfire between street plows and property owners) in the half mile around the station? Otherwise if we see this as a summer-only facility: In Europe the main station would have food/snacks/small shopping and bring together regional and local travelers - we have train nearby, can we add Greyhound, Grand Canyon Shuttle and airport shuttle. Make our town and Grand Canyon a complete option for people travelling on holiday without cars and that also makes it better for us local users as well. A pleasant place indoor with food/bathrooms makes it easier to travel with children or meet up with friends. Add Bike rental in a thoughtful way. Add luggage/parcel storage for shoppers. Without a car you can't buy as much and enjoy it unless you can store it while doing other things. Make sure there are future plans for easy and more pleasant walking connection(s) across the tracks than what we have now. None are wide enough even for 2 wheelchairs to cross at the choke points on Beaver and SanFran or under the Rt66/Milton underpass. Would be lovely to have a major feature/sculpture/fountain there but probably not possible.What transit and multi-modal amenities would you like to see available at the new DCC?
If there is capacity to serve additional community purposes, what would you like to see?
Partnership with private entity for cafe style service
Hardscaped, public areas.
Please describe any preferences in next question.
Leasable retail space.
Partnership with private entity for a small newstands with papers and magazines.
Partnership with human service providers for onsite services.
Publically rentable meeting space.
Leasable office space.
Please descibe in next question.
Please provide specific suggestions on items above. (i.e. For public art, do you prefer sculpture versus mural or other details? For retail, what type would you like to see? Etc.).
No response.Would incorporating any of the previous ideas convince you to take transit more often?
If so, what?
For now lack of snow removal is easily the biggest deterrent for me plus lack of more committed spaces on buses for bikes so I've had to just bike or wait another 20 minutes for the next bus and hope that one won't have bikes on it already. Food options would make me enjoy the trip.Which, if any, designs below do you like?
Please explain what you like and dislike about the above options.
Connection to historical look of town. All look OK really. Should be pleasant for pedestrians to move in and protected from rain and snow when moving from but to bus.Is there anything else you would like to be considered in the design?
Best if providing protection from rain and snow while travelling from bus to bus. Put solar panels on top of it to take advantage of large roof. Connection to local red stone would be nice rather than metal look of some options that looks dated very quickly. If second story would be nice with view of mountains and tables for resting/eating. Good luck! Do we know if other towns have made a big change with their DCC and whether people have responded and used it or have just ignored it?