Residents post opinions on new Web site

Scott Wilson fulfilled his promise to report the votes received on his Web site, speakupmcminnville.com, to elected officials during the Nov. 28 regular board session.

?Tonight I?m here representing Speak Up McMinnville,? said Wilson. ?When I started out, I made a commitment that I would come to the meetings and that I would relay the information that is on the site.?

Holding himself to that commitment, Wilson presented each board member with a printout of the current Web site questions and posted votes.

The site was created by Wilson as a way for local residents to vote on different questions and get them involved in city and county government, as the site could also be utilized by elected officials to see the results of the questions which could help with decision making. So far, the site has 87 members signed up and most of those are voting.

?I posted the first four questions,? said Wilson. ?The remaining questions have all been given to me or sent in to be posted. There are many different opinions out there.?

As for the questions submitted and the results received, Wilson is impressed by the response the site has received. One change has already been made to the site after a suggestion to place the questions into three different categories:

? McMinnville has nine questions: Of those, the majority of votes, totaling 70.77 percent, were against city officials purchasing specialized cameras to be used for issuing tickets. The idea of red-light cameras was suggested by Mayor Royce Davenport several months ago.

? McMinnville/Warren County has nine questions: Votes were 70.49 percent against allowing company-sponsored banners downtown. The question of banners returning downtown was recently put to city elected officials.

? Warren County currently has two questions: Should Warren County adopt building code regulations and zoning regulations? The yes votes totaled 61.76 percent for building codes and 69.1 percent for zoning.

To view all the questions, see how others have voted or submit a question, log onto www.speakupmcminnville.com. To vote on any question, establish an ID and password by giving and confirming an e-mail address. Within a short time, a six digit password will be sent via e-mail.

For confidentiality, member?s information is not disclosed. The only information given on the site are the number of votes and the percent of ?yes? and ?no? votes.

Posted votes will be shared with the mayor and aldermen during future board meetings, according to Wilson.