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Internet Could Provide Look at Inner Workings of the City

Brian Meyer - Buffalo News Staff Reporter

Internet users might soon be watching Buffalo lawmakers in action and engaging in chat sessions with elected leaders via their home computers.

An outside consulting company that is designing the city's newe-government initiative met with city staffers Wednesday to update them on an effort to harness computer technology to improve the delivery of key services.

This spring, motorists will be able to pay city parking fines via the Internet. Within the next few months, the e-government initiative will be expanded to include payment of the garbage user fee. By fall, dozens of permits and licenses are expected to be added to the mix.

Stephen M. Kiernan, president of AlgonquinStudios, said designers have scrutinized the Web sites of at least 36 municipalities in hopes of creating a "citizen-friendly" Internet portal for Buffalo.

Officials said there are already quite a few concepts that will likely include:

"Video streaming" of Common Council meetings, committee sessions and perhaps even block club meetings in "near-real time," almost as they are occurring.

Live, online chat sessions with elected officials.

Photo galleries that showcase different sections of the city.

A feature that will let vendors who sell goods and services to the city monitor their invoices through the bureaucracy.

A listing of all death certificates from 1850 through 1926 to help people who are researching genealogy. By law, municipalities cannot release death certificates for 75 years without first obtaining signature requests.

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