Montclair: Blogs and the Mayor
Mayor Ed Remsen at Bike Montclair [Baristanet]
“I didn’t give up my right to weigh in when I became mayor.” This from Ed Remsen of Montclair, NJ; he’s doing his weighing in onBaristanet, a hyperlocal journalism blog we featured last week. Ed couldn’t make the show but followed up with us to talk about Baristanet.
What’s amazing is that he doesn’t even see it as extraordinary that he cares about his reputation on Baristanet. “On the street, it’s just like ‘Oh, I saw you on the cable station.’ Now I get ‘Oh, I saw you on the blog.’” Ed points out that an appearance on a blog’s comment threads can humanize an elected offical, and that a note directly from the mayor can temper the conversation, too. “If I go on directly and respond, if I personify the discussion” he says, “people are more careful about what they say.”
It seems like the mayor’s relationship with Baristanet is more playful than what he could have with a local newspaper. As you can see, when we asked the Baristas for a picture of the mayor that ran on the blog, they were quick to provide one of him wearing a bike helmet; a click through to the link reveals their suggestion that he has never been seen publicly riding a bike.
As a blog, though — and editors Debbie Galant and Liz George were quick to point this out — Baristanet has license for a little more overt skepticism than a paper would. And of course comment threads are hard to hold to any standard. Ed engages the blog, but often as a defensive measure. “I’m a volunteer,” he said at one point during our conversation, “I work hard, I’m a public official, but I don’t allow myself to become a punching bag. I don’t let it happen at town council meetings, either. … I do respond if it gets personal.”
A pack of blogs can carry weight nationally, but a single blog can have pull in a single town, too. Ed — who was generous to follow up with us, but doesn’t strike me as a super-hip, modern-media kind of guy — gets it. “Sometimes town officials say ‘Oh, don’t pay attention,’” he says, “but these people [Baristanet] represent not just themselves, but other people.” They represent, in fact, a growing piece of New Jersey that, says Debbie Galant, has started to call itself “Baristaville.”
- Links
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Baristanet, hyperlocal blog for Montclair, NJ and the surrounding area
Ed Remsen’s profile
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August 25th, 2005 at 10:43 pm
It’s admirable that Mayor Remsen feels free enough, and is courageous enough, to reply to his critics on Baristanet. The truth is, however, he doesn’t say very much in his replies. Were he a little more Giuliani-ish, it might be better, because God knows his critics can be both vociferous and uninformed, too stuffed full of themselves. In other words, I’d “like” him better if he snapped back better. Montclair is a fractious, extremely liberal sort of place, as well as one where liberals too often seem to practice (and to urge on others) “groupthink.” In such a town it’s got to be rough indeed to serve as mayor, so I almost expect him to snarl back at the sort of folk who can chalk up in a day or so 100 posts about the shortage of parking at the local organic foods market. But he doesn’t, at least not enough for my taste, even as I appreciate the clear attempt he’s making to be both accessible and judicious. But saying “screw you” occasionally might only make people love him more, as it worked for some years for Rudy Giuliani.
August 25th, 2005 at 10:44 pm
personally, i was impressed the mayor of montclair responds-i think that is admirable -it also shows the power the baristanet has had-and is enjoying-i find myself advertising for this blog without even thinking-just in conversations with neighbors-in line with people or when i walk into a store–i am enjoying numerous bloggers on this site- i wish it great success.
August 25th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
He sure doesn’t say much to the 1400 registered members of The Montclair Watercooler — a much-longer-standing neighborhood/Internet communications vehicle, a discussion group for all things Montclair — of which he is a member.
He could actually use it as a proactive P.R. vehicle, starting topics of his own choosing.
He could also have department representatives share what they do and why, e.g., unlike simply responding to threads that the Baristas control and which fall off the edge as they get pushed down the page.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MtcWatercooler/
August 26th, 2005 at 11:30 am
There’s several differences between the Weblog and The Montclair Watercooler.
The Watercooler is moderated. The blog isn’t. The people on the Watercooler are real. The posters on the blog could all be the same person, in theory, and no one would know it.
On the blog you can make up a favorable comment about yourself, without anyone knowing you are writing the favorable comment. On the blog, you can use foul mouthed language to describe you opponent.
Oh, and let’s not forget: the blog is a “for profit” enterprise. It makes the owner money. It has ads. The Watercooler is run because people love it.