Why Local Governments Are Taking City Hall Selfies
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They joined in the fun with everything from municipal mascots to drone aircraft.
Municipal governments looking to boost civic engagement took to social media Monday to ring in the first-ever, international #CityHallSelfie Day.
Spearheaded by Oregon-based nonprofit Engaging Local Government Leaders, the online campaign served the double purpose of assisting municipalities in engendering greater community support, trust and conversations around innovation and policy.
Some cities had more fun with it than others trying to win awards for the oddest photo, cutest photo, most prolific poster, and the group with the most followers among other categories.
“So the city of Phoenix is getting on board and trying to be a leader in letting people know that city hall isn’t about just the government,” the city’s spokesman, Matt Hamada, told KTAR News. “It’s about being engaged in social media and what is happening currently—trending in the world and we know that selfies are still a very crazy and fun thing for people to do on a daily basis and we know people like to do it, so we want to be a part of it.”
In fact, Phoenix had the Neighborhood Services Department’s Neighborhood Asaurus and Water Services Department’s Wayne Drop mascots posting selfies throughout the day.
Las Vegas City Hall let visitors take selfies with Mayor Carolyn Goodman and former Mayor Oscar Goodman—well, a cardboard cutout of them anyway.
Kansas City, Missouri’s Revenue Division took time for a selfie.
As did some members of Collierville, Tennessee’s fire department.
Perhaps the coolest selfie goes to Richland, Washington, for taking one with drone.
Speaking of Evergreen State municipalities, Route Fifty’s very own Executive Editor Michael Grass swung by Seattle City Hall to make his own selfie contribution.
If you want to keep track of where all the selfies are happening, ELGL is mapping locations in real time.
Dave Nyczepir is a News Editor at Government Executive’s Route Fifty and is based in Washington D.C.
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