The News-Press

Local officials wade through evolved way of getting back to you

By Jamie Page

jpage@news-press.com

Originally posted on March 11, 2007

Writing a letter to a local elected official used to take time.

Concerned citizens would collect their thoughts on a hot issue and put it into the most direct, yet diplomatic, words they could muster into a handwritten or typed letter. Then address it, put postage on it, mail it, and wait for a response.

Today, if you have a beef with local government or a question for an official, it can be fired off in a short e-mail in minutes. That convenience, however, means local government offices are inundated with correspondence every day.

To get a closer look at the kinds of mail local officials receive and how they respond to it, The News-Press requested all forms of mail received during the week of Jan. 29 through Feb. 2 by county commissioners, city council members in Bonita Springs, Cape Coral and Fort Myers, and the office of the Lee County schools superintendent.

Lee County

“I will usually get 500 to 600 e-mails in a week,” said Nan Summerall Gonzalez, executive assistant to Commissioner Bob Janes. Commissioners’ assistants respond to many of the e-mails and phone calls that come in. “We typically get 150 to 200 pieces of (snail) mail a week. When there’s a big issue, such as the landfill or taxes or a NIMBY issue, it’s more.”

County Commissioner Ray Judah has seen the evolution from snail mail to mostly e-mail in his 20 years in office, and it’s made it more trying for him.

“I used to really pride myself on personally responding to most all correspondence that came in,” Judah said. “But today, in no way can I respond as often, and in as great detail, as I did years ago” because of the inordinate amount of e-mail coming in. He said it’s also “because of the demands of my time, the plethora of meetings that often include travel because of the regional things I am involved in.”

With Judah, and most commissioners, their assistants reply to many of the e-mails and, at the very least, let the writer know it was received. Judah’s assistant sometimes works weekends to catch up on mail.

Much of it is corresponding with constituent concerns. So either the commissioner or their assistant replies, or they forward the question to a county staff member who has the expertise to answer it.

Because cell phones are so accessible these days, that’s also increased calls to government offices. Janes’ office gets 100 to 150 calls per week on average, Gonzalez said.

Bonita Springs

When Bonita Springs first became a city in 2000, e-mail was not as natural a choice for communication as it is today.

In the beginning, City Manager Gary Price remembers receiving more correspondence through the mail. But now, city officials get a minimal amount of letters from Bonita residents with an actual stamp. Instead, advertisements and government publications collect in City Hall mailboxes.

When residents have a problem now, they’re more likely to type up a message and send it to someone with a city e-mail address.

The problem for Price is that e-mail has a sense of immediacy. And with volume increasing, it can be difficult to keep up, he said.

“They expect an immediate response like we’re all sitting around waiting for something to come in,” Price said.

The types and forms of mail Councilman Ben Nelson receives have evolved, much like Bonita, in the seven years since he was first elected.

“We still have a few holdouts that will send a hard copy,” he said. But most of what he receives is an electronic form, with only high volume days once or twice a week.

Sorting through the papers is a time management challenge, Nelson said. When it comes to governmental literature and other pieces of mail, you have to skim the document and move on, he said.

“The ones you really have to concentrate on are the constituent-specific ones,” Nelson said. “They’ve written to you and they deserve a response. You owe them a response.”

No matter the tone of the original e-mail, Nelson said he tried to be professional and polite. He received 10 during the first week of February.

Residents rely on e-mail as a mechanism to voice their opinions, whether it be the progress of a road project or to ask council members not to vote a certain way at an upcoming meeting, Nelson said.

“Sometimes they don’t realize that there’s another human being at the other end,” he said.

Beth James, of Bonita Springs, corresponds from time to time, usually by e-mail.

“I try not to be frivolous in my contacts, but I do know them to be responsive,” she said.

Cape Coral

Retired Cape Coral resident Dotti Gorton wrote to council members about the city’s proposed public safety building at about 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31.

By noon Feb. 2, in less time than it takes a handwritten letter to get postmarked and make its way through the city’s internal mail system to its destination, a reply was on its way back.

Ah, the speed of e-mail.

But Gorton said she continues to write letters. “I prefer to send letters and follow up by e-mail.’’

A written letter shows people’s commitment, that they took the time to write, put a stamp on the envelope and put it in the mail, she said.

Gorton received replies from three council members and two city officials. She had questions about the features and costs involved in the public safety building.

The city officials didn’t dodge her questions, Gorton said. They answered them, but they didn’t persuade her to vote yes on April 3 to pay for the building with bonds backed by property taxes.

E-mails make it easier to view messages because they can be called up on a screen, the Cape Coral city clerk said. And they reduce the amount of space the city needs to store public records.

“They’re kept on a CD if we need it instead of in boxes,” Bonnie Vent said.

But when someone requests e-mail records, the city employee or the clerk’s office reviews them to make sure no personal information is released, she said. The review practice is regulated by an administrative rule.

While it appears that the council members get a lot of e-mail, senders often copy each member of the council.

Fort Myers

This records request drew several hundred pages of mail from Mayor Jim Humphrey and the six members of the city council.

It took about 10 days to process, primarily because a clerk had to go through the mail and delete information not covered by the open-records laws, city spokeswoman Jennifer Hobbic said.

Ultimately, three pieces of mail were partially redacted during portions that revealed an employee’s medical condition or reason for missing work.

The vast majority of mail was sent to Humphrey and Ward 1 Councilman Warren Wright.

“I know I do get a lot of mail, probably more than most and I think it’s probably because people see me as an activist,” Wright said. “People say right upfront ‘I know you are not my councilman, but I wanted you to know what’s going on and see if you could help me.’ ”

Two council members — Levon Simms and Randy Henderson — did not submit any mail for the week.

Henderson said he was uncertain if he received no mail because he is between office assistants.

Henderson and Wright said they enjoy hearing from residents of their wards, with e-mail being the best way to get a timely response.

“Some residents will e-mail me with their problems,” Henderson said. “I usually get back on the same day if they leave me a phone number.”

Wright said his mail has slowed since taking office, but he still enjoys hearing from voters.

Lee County schools Superintendent James Browder

Between Jan. 29 and Feb. 2, Lee County Superintendent James Browder received 380 e-mails and sent 91.

So what shows up in Browder’s inbox? Lots of education spam and lots of FYI-type e-mails from administrators sharing information. Browder’s secretary filters through his e-mail, passing along important notes while forwarding other messages to appropriate parties. The goal, he says, is to respond within 24 hours, but absolutely no more than two days.

Only a few dozen e-mails were sent with Browder as the primary target, a good portion of which were well-wishes for the chief’s recent knee surgery.

Among the more lighthearted e-mails: Browder’s secretary would be late one morning because her cats were being declawed, and a warning not to wear white clothing to a luncheon meeting because barbecue ribs were on the menu.

A few parents e-mailed with concerns about their child’s school or had general questions about Lee’s school choice program. Two e-mailers were looking for jobs here.

Regular mail — the kind that comes with a postal stamp and takes a lick to seal — was non-existent. Nothing turned up in our public records search, not a single piece of snail mail addressed to the superintendent.

— Dave Breitenstein, Don Ruane, Jennifer Misthal and Joel Moroney contributed to this report.

Reproduced courtesy of The News-Press.
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