HEIDELBERG, Germany - The open forum of social media has made a difference in town hall meetings, at least at the one held Feb. 16 in Heidelberg.
Residents voiced their opinions on the U.S. Army Garrison's Baden-Wuerttemberg Facebook page and in the command's virtual community.
Their issues were addressed at the garrison's quarterly town hall meeting at the Patrick Henry Village Pavilion.
Big on their minds is dog feces and Commander Col. William Butcher led the meeting by addressing the pet policy.
But that's not all.
Traffic violations, unsupervised children and the cleanliness of stairwells were among the topics that originated on social media and found their way to the commander's forum.
Nearly every response to the garrison's question of the week - "What issues would you like to see addressed at the town hall meeting'" - included concerns about violations of the dog walking and dog leash policy.
"We, this community, have to step up and say, 'No, you're not going to do that,'" Butcher said, after announcing the command was reviewing the policy to "put more teeth" into it.
He said walking a dog off leash puts people at risk and cited the case of an unregistered dog that had been removed from the installation for biting someone.
But one woman wanted to know about senior leaders.
"Senior leadership are the ones violating the rules. How do you tell them (they) have to comply'" she said.
Butcher told her residents need to talk to building coordinators when they have concerns like this. "The building coordinators have the responsibility to tell me," he said.
But if myBWnow is to be believed, community residents themselves will be videotaping violations of owners not picking up the dog's feces.
"We started taking pictures, too, of poo offenders and caught someone this past weekend letting their dog relieve itself right near the building and sidewalk. We snapped the photo from our bedroom window," said G. Scott Martin on my BWnow.
Butcher also talked about the curfew policy.
"A rash of things have come to me and much of it could be prevented by sponsors enforcing the curfew policy and by us enforcing the curfew policy," he said.
Deputy Director of Emergency Services Maj. Tulip Frazier said underage drinking, larceny of personal and private property and assault were some infractions by youth who should have been home.
Town hall meetings are platforms for open discussions such as these. Typically the commander and staff present information on services and programs to the community and citizens air their grievances.
Often, issues are resolved right on the spot.
At the least, questions get answers.
For example, a Mark Twain Village resident asked about responsibilities for clearing quarters now that they won't be occupied after current residents depart.
Will they still have to fix the wood floors'
The answer was that residents' clearing requirements are being reduced and wood floors won't have to be fixed in quarters that won't be filled.
Commanders often hear from neighbors, spouses, coworkers and supervisors about problem areas to address at town hall meetings but social media is not a traditional source of information.
Now, even Steve Borden, an active Facebook and myBWnow fan, gets an ear.
Borden has said he is "ignored all the time," and he posted a list of items for the town hall meeting.
In the open forum, Butcher addressed the issues brought up on social media including Borden's.
The meeting ended with Butcher advising folks to obey traffic laws, lower their car radio volume, not allow small children to go unsupervised and use the proper checkout lane at the commissary.
"Our MPs do a great job patrolling," Butcher said, adding that they communicate with each other and the military police station by cell phone.
He asked residents to understand that when they observe what appears to be an infraction.
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