Law Homework Help. How the Mayor of Newark Used Social Media to Improve Public Service Delivery Paper
TWEETING TO THE RESCUE? HOW THE MAYOR OF NEWARK USED SOCIAL MEDIA TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY
Some news writers christened the 2010 Christmas weekend blizzard the Great Tsnownami or Snowmageddon. As nearly two feet of snow buried New York in deep drifts, in one of the five worst storms ever to hit the metropolitan region, thousands of flights were canceled and Amtrak was stalled for two days. Dozens of ambulances became stuck in drifts and even heavy front-loaders had to be tugged out of clogged city streets.
Local newspapers complained about the pace of snow removal. The website of the New York Daily News ran a photo of the Staten Island home of John Doherty, the sanitation commissioner. “Does your street look like this?” the website asked. That street, the Daily News said, “was plowed clean,” but “the dead-end streets on either side of his block remained a snow-choked winter blunderland.”1 (Links to an external site.)
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg acknowledged that “many New Yorkers are suffering serious hardships.” He also said, however, “The world has not come to an end.” In fact, “The city is going fine. Broadway shows were full last night. There are lots of tourists here enjoying themselves. I think that the message is that the city goes on.” A New York Times writer thought wryly of Bloomberg’s comment as he was looking at two men trying to push a Cadillac Escalade out of a Brooklyn snowbank, with the smell of burning rubber from spinning tires in the air. Were they thinking of taking in a Broadway play, the writer asked? One of the men trying to free the Escalade was incredulous. “Take in a play?” he asked. “What does the mayor suggest? Walking?” Times Square, after all, was a ten-mile hike or a half-hour drive, even in good traffic without snow.2 (Links to an external site.)
Across the Hudson River, Newark Mayor Cory Booker was camped on Twitter (http://twitter.com/corybooker (Links to an external site.)) and was putting his own shoulder to the shovel. One woman said she was stuck and needed to get to a medical procedure. “I will dig you out. Where are you?” he tweeted. One Twitter follower worried about how Booker’s back was holding up. “Thanks 4 asking, back killing me,” he responded. “Breakfast: Advil and Diet Coke.”
Booker assured residents he was personally on the case. Two days after the storm ended, he tweeted, “Stepping off streets for hour or so 2 take a meeting I couldn’t cancel. We still have dozens of trucks & 100s of workers out clearing snow.” When he got out of the meeting, he told a worried resident, “I’m on my way to Treamont Ave now to help dig your mom out.” Then a tweet arrived: “don’t forget brunswick street by astor.” He was quickly back in touch. “Thanks for the heads up. I’m sending a crew. It will be there in a bit.” From a worried resident, about Booker’s trademark look: “Saw u out there on S Orange. Put a hat on that head. Us baldies can’t be going commando out there.” The reply: “No need I’ve got a hot head.”
Snow removal has a long history of causing officials heartburn, both political and administrative. Chicago Mayor Michael Bilandic lost a primary election in 1979 because, most local political analysts believed, local voters punished him for failing to respond quickly enough to a major blizzard. In 1969, another New York blizzard so politically crippled Mayor John Lindsay that he never recovered. When he visited Queens, residents scorned him. “You should be ashamed of yourself,” screamed one angry woman. Another said, “Get away, you bum.”3 (Links to an external site.)
Booker was determined to avoid that fate. A tweet arrived: “quitman/spruce need plowing. noone has touch those streets—becoming dangerous.” He shot back, “We r on it. DM me ur # if u want 2 talk.”
Notes
1. (Links to an external site.) Edgar Sandoval and Larry McShane, “Sanitation Boss John Doherty’s Street Plowed Clean, but Nearby Streets Remain Winter Blunderland,” New York Daily News (December 29, 2010), http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/12/29/2010-12-29_a_madhouse_out_there_but_not_for_boss.html (Links to an external site.).
2. (Links to an external site.) Michael Powell, “For a Snow-Crippled City, a Morsel of Humble Pie from the Mayor,” New York Times (December 28, 2010), http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/nyregion/29about.html (Links to an external site.).
3. (Links to an external site.) Sewall Chan, “Remembering a Snowstorm That Paralyzed the City,” New York Times (February 10, 2009), http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/remembering-a-snowstorm-that-paralyzed-the-city (Links to an external site.).
QUESTION:
- The rise of social media has changed the decision-making landscape — both in how officials make decisions and how they are seen to make decisions. In 2 paragraphs or less, explain how might we use social media (or technology) to improve the delivery of public goods and services. You should use a specific type of social media and a specific good or service.