Newsletter BOX: City expands options for citizen feedback on proposed budget

City expands options for citizen feedback on proposed budget;

Virtual and telephone town hall meetings are additional options

Dallas – The City of Dallas is expanding citizens’ options for providing feedback to the City Manager’s proposed FY 2013-14 Budget. In addition to attending Budget Town Hall meetings in districts throughout the city, residents and all interested parties can now participate in the meetings by phone or via their home computer or tablet.

“The City is committed to adopting technology that allows our residents, business owners and stakeholders to better engage with city government,” said Interim City Manager A.C. Gonzalez. “We want to hear from more people in the community in all areas of the city, and we understand not everyone can attend an evening meeting in person. These new options allow us to hear from a whole new audience,” Gonzalez said.

There are now three ways to take part in the FY 2103-14 Budget Town Hall meetings:

1) Attend one of the Budget Town Hall Meetings in your district

2) Participate in a virtual Budget Town Hall Meeting via home computer or tablet

3) Participate in a Town Hall Budget Meeting via telephone

The virtual Town Hall Meetings will also be streamed on the web and participants can feed questions to a moderator by phone or send a question in via the web. Councilmembers, the City Manager’s Office and various department representatives will be on hand to answer budget questions. Thousands of residents will receive an outbound telephone call a few minutes prior to the scheduled Telephone Town Hall meetings. Others that want to participate can call in to the meeting at designated days and times.

To participate in one of the telephone discussions on the dates and times listed, citizens can call the toll-free number: (888)-409-5380. Telephone meetings will also be available in Spanish and those citizens will be provided live translation by calling the Spanish toll-free number: (877)-353-4701.

People can also watch the virtual Town Hall Meeting by logging on to DallasCityNewsroom.com and DallasCityHall.com, clicking on the Budget Town Hall banner then on the Web-based meeting link. Citizens that want to review the proposed budget presentation and have questions ready prior to the telephone and web based options can view a video of the full proposed budget briefing on the City’s websites.

For a list of district meetings and days and times of virtual Town Hall meetings visit DallasCityNewsroom.com and DallasCityHall.com.

Virtual Town Hall Meeting video: http://vimeo.com/71597766