News-Record.com

I echo Calvin Williams Jr.: Guilford County commissioner Bruce Davis should actually make something of his blog. Greensboro City Council member Sandy Carmany and Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen have blazed a trail, and there's no turning back.

In January, when council members Tom Phillips and Yvonne Johnson had blogs, I wrote this: "My hope is that, as public servants, they embrace the potential before them, and they use their blogs to further the principles of democracy, and develop the sites as places to give and get information and knowledge. What a wonderful way, for instance, to illuminate the council's thinking on a contentious issue or perhaps reveal some of the civic conversation that takes place behind closed doors.

"I also hope that they realize a site's potential to inform their own positions... Imagine, for example, asking citizens via a blog what they think of another strip shopping center north of Pisgah Church Road, what they think of the city subsidizing the hockey team, what they think of paying incentives to attract a private company. The possibilities are endless."

"Joe Trippi, in his book "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," has some advice for politicians and institutions (like, say, a newspaper). They include: Tell the truth. Keep up a daily dialogue with your constituents. Build a community. Get people involved. Cede control."

Unfortunately, both of them have ceased blogging. (Johnson, like Davis so far, never really got her blog off the ground.)

Given the contentious reputation of the county commissioners, the mind races at the impact the chairman could have. Truth, dialogue, building community. None of those descriptions fit my perception of how the county board operates. What if the chairman started blogging with that kind of openness and transparency?

It's within your grasp, Mr. Davis. Please seize it.

By the way, Calvin, it's great to have your voice in Greensboro.