When I started blogging, I really didn’t know what I was doing, from a technical standpoint. Thanks to help from the Dane101 folks (Shane and Jesse) and Kristian at thedailypage.com, I’m slowing finding my way.

I may not have known exactly what to do; I clearly knew what I wanted to accomplish. I wanted a place to provide information to the public without having to repeat myself/retype the same thing all the time. (ex. IZ myths I and II and budget) I wanted a place to put my (mostly not) lobbying contacts for the public to see. (ex. November, December, January) I wanted a place to post all those letters to the editor that I’ve written in my head, but never bothered to put on paper since they don’t have a good success rate of getting published. (ex. Spat with the Mayor) I wanted a place to say those things that aren’t worthy a news story or a letter to the editor, but that the public has a right to know about. (ex. Realtors want special treatment) I wanted a place for me to explain things in more than a 10 word sound-byte now that the news it getting dumbed down more and more everyday. (ex. IZ equity model and incentives) A place to inform the public of upcoming meetings. (ex. Bus fares) I think my blogging, here, there and everywhere has largely accomplished these goals. Despite the fact that I’ve been accused of being “wonky” – which has been both a complement and a criticism.

Since I started blogging, new blogs have been popping up, what I’ve noticed is that I want to respond to so many things, that all of the above goals are at risk of getting lost. Worse yet, the blogs the other alders started are at risk of just adding to the “legislation discussion on via press release and the local media”, instead of talking to each other. I hardly want to get into that kind of a back and forth with other alders where we’re trying to “one up” each other, and concerned about scoring political points, instead of having actual discussions about policy matters.

So, you won’t be seeing a lot of direct responses from me. However, I still need to find a way to set the record straight when there are inaccuracies. So, I’m going to start a new feature on my blog called “Weekly Corrections” where I will post factual information that is somehow inaccurate in other blogs or media reports. And hopefully, I’ll stay away from dragging blogging down to the type of discussions and name-calling you get on many local forums. Tho I have to admit, sometimes it is so hard not to respond and get a little snarky – I’ll promise to try my best not to go there.

Note: If you have issues you’d like to see me blog about, I’m always open to suggestions.