7th Ward citizens get high-tech boost for their feedback to officials' panel tonight

YOUNGSTOWN

During typical town-hall meetings, attendees have perhaps three minutes to express their opinions and feelings, but at one such session, a high-tech approach made that possible with a simple push of a button.

“We figured that a lot of good questions will be asked of each of them,” Chris Travers, 7th Ward Citizens Coalition president, said about the five-member panel that addressed a variety of issues and concerns on attendees’ minds during the organization’s meeting Thursday.

Panelists were state Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd; Youngstown Health Commissioner Erin Bishop; Mayor John A. McNally; police Chief Robin Lees; and T. Sharon Woodberry, the city’s economic-development and planning director.

During the hour-long session at Faith Community Covenant Church, 1919 E. Midlothian Blvd., on the South Side, the five answered 19 questions that those in attendance had written on slips of paper. Then audience members hit one of five buttons on their instant-polling keypads to rank and express their feelings about the panelists’ responses.

Supplying the devices was Turning Technologies LLC of Youngstown.

Read more about this local civic experiment in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.