Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl opened another door for two-way communication. This time, mayoral birdies are whispering in residents’ ears through Twitter.
Last week’s first-ever Twitter town hall with Tisdahl was a commendable effort from a mayor who described the event to The Daily as a “crash course in tweeting.”
During the session, Tisdahl made occasional note of how fresh the experience was for her. But with one new experience having flown out the window, she now needs to take the next step: tweeting from her own account.
So far, it seems to be working wonders for elected officials like New Haven, Conn. mayor John DeStefano, whose jurisdiction includes Yale University. Not only does DeStefano’s account update his constituents, but he also responds directly to their tweets and retweets news highlighting New Haven. It’s a small but important way of showing people that their mayor is accessible and listening.
And in the current scheme of things, Tisdahl may not like the tweets out there with her name on them.
The only Tisdahl account out there at present is @ETisdahl, an apparently student-run satirical account.
With nearly 400 followers, many of whom followed in the wake of Tisdahl’s recent decision to shut down The Keg, @ETisdahl is a small but key indicator of resentment and distrust, highlighting a common sentiment among students that the city actively works against them – albeit very over-the-top.
Unlike similar satirical Twitter accounts, this one reveals a different social dynamic at play.
Remember the @MayorEmanuel account launched last year during Rahm Emanuel’s mayoral campaign? Poking fun at Emanuel’s reported affinity for profanity-laced remarks, it was humorous and helped energize the campaign, allowing people a new access point for political engagement. Emanuel himself laughed at the tweets.
But things are different this time around.
I wonder if Tisdahl knows she’s being characterized as a crazed 21st-century prohibitionist. Does she laugh it off as a student simply being silly at her expense? Is it providing her and her staff insight into how some students may feel about their mayor?
Regardless, it wouldn’t be wise to dismiss it as simple humor. If Tisdahl had her own account, she’d be able convey her own unfiltered messages directly to constituents, including NU students.
There’s one thing the Twitter town hall made clear: Students pay attention to city dialogues via social media. And judging from student tweets following the session, reactions were mixed.
Some felt Tisdahl dodged questions about town-gown relations, others felt some of her answers reflected flawed characterizations of the NU community.
Weinberg senior Eric Mayo has followed @CityofEvanston since news about enforcement of the Three Unrelated Person rule was reported last year. He participated in the Twitter town hall after having attended meetings scheduled over the past year discussing the ordinance.
Mayo tweeted Tisdahl, asking, “Why are four roommates a safety hazard and a family of 4 fine?” She responded that a family of four has parents, prompting Mayo’s follow up question about what made parents special with regard to the law.
Her answer? “Because parents try to keep u safe, that’s their job. We will be discussing the 3 unrelated rule soon & I’m keeping an open mind.”
And in an offline remark to people physically present with her during the town hall, Tisdahl said, “He’s very unappreciative of his parents. How does he think he survived this long? I’ve been a parent for a long time. I know these things.”
Not cute, Tisdahl, not cute.
Mayo wasn’t thrilled with her remarks after reading The Daily’s story about the town hall last week. “Your assertion that I don’t appreciate my parents is a wild jump in logic that’s inappropriate for someone in your position to say to a member of your community,” Mayo said in a letter he posted on Twitter.
In an interview with The Daily, Mayo noted Tisdahl’s response as emblematic of how the city discusses student-related issues.
“When I went to the (Three Unrelated Person rule) meeting last year, I got that the reason they mainly wanted to enforce the law was because of occupancy hazards… Her answer had nothing to do with safety,” he said. “I wasn’t happy with the answer. I thought it was just avoiding the issue.”
To Tidahl’s credit, Twitter’s a hard place to have lengthy, nuanced discussions about public policy, something Mayo acknowledged. After all, you only get 140 characters.
But in a digital age where a 24-hour news cycle and fervently rapid social media networks regulate public dialogues, sound bites and brief statements of any kind can be telling.
If anything, Tisdahl having her own Twitter account would be a good practice in communicating with residents and showing she’s actively listening. Even if aided by a staffer in upkeeping the account – a common practice among elected officials – Tisdahl can better learn how to communicate with NU students and the rest of Evanston.
Mayo thinks a Tisdahl-run Twitter account would be a good idea. “If she’s willing to learn how to use it, I think she’d have plenty of help within city government… There’s no harm in having one if you watch what you say,” he told me Sunday.
@CityofEvanston can’t do all the engagement work, though the Twitter town hall was a great step in the right direction. But now’s the time for Tisdahl to add a new element. Tweeting consistently from her own platform to engage Evanston residents – including NU students – would boost government transparency and citizen engagement in a different, more current way.
Derrick Clifton is a Communication senior. He can be reached at [email protected]
