SpeakUpcomo.com is Columbia's new website for public engagement. The city council hopes to use this site in addition to their weekly meetings to reach a wider audience.
“We have put a project on SpeakUpCoMo, and it’s a list of all the various projects being considered right now,” Tony St. Ramaine, the Deputy City Manager of Columbia said. “And we have a description of the project, and people have an opportunity to vote those up if they think they’re needed.”
St. Romaine also said that citizens can suggest their own projects on the website
Columbia resident Rachel Ruhlen has already made an account and voted on a few projects since the website’s launch last Friday.
“There’s so many meetings, so I don’t always have time, or can’t fit it in my schedule,” she said. “So I really appreciate when there’s an online way to communicate.”
She also has created her own project, to replace aging buses used by the Columbia Public Transit.
St. Romaine said the city government plans to compile a report of the suggestions that citizens post on the forum and will give it to the city council to use in their decision making in the future.