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Welcome!

Westborough Citizens Online is the name of a group aiming to create an online issues forum for Westborough, MA. 

If this interests you, please fill out this form and we will contact you when we're ready to launch.  (If there's any problem with this form, please contact us directly at westboroughcitizensonline@gmail.com  and we will help out.  Thanks!)

The purpose of the forum is to provide a place to discuss local public issues and exchange community announcements and information using our real names, with civility and respect

The forum will be run by local volunteers.  Participants will access the forum via either e-mail or through the web.  The system will be technically hosted by E-Democracy.org: a non-profit, non-partisan, volunteer-based project whose mission is to expand participation and build stronger democracies and communities through the power of information and communication technologies and strategies. 

We are currently in the process of forming a steering committee and gathering e-mail addresses of interested parties, so we may keep people informed as we finalize the forum's charter and rules, and prepare it for launch.

Below are some ideas for the charter we are in the process of constructing:

Draft Charter (as of 14 Apr 2009)

Introduction

  • Welcome to the Westborough, Massachusetts Issues Forum.  Here you will find current thoughts and voices from fellow residents of "The Hundredth Town." We invite you to browse and participate; to learn and contribute. Just like you might do when you encounter friends at the local salon or barber shop, or when waiting in line to sign-in for town meeting, this forum is a place to discuss local public issues and exchange community announcements and information using our real names, with civility and respect. 

Goals

The Goals of the Westborough, Massachusetts Issues Forum are to:

  • Improve awareness of the issues and opportunities in our town
  • Give everyone a greater voice in the decisions that affect our community
  • Increase civic participation
  • Help encourage more input into solutions for local area problems

Typical Topics

Topics that you might find here to discuss include:

  • Sidewalk snow removal and crosswalk safety
  • Police department attitudes
  • Nightlife in Westborough
  • Public Transportation
  • Recreation topics: benches, the Bay State Commons park, bike paths...
  • What an Arts Center could make possible for the town

Rules

The full text of rules governing E-Democracy.Org forums can be found here: http://e-democracy.org/rules . Here are a few rules we wish to call out:

Highlighted Rules:

  • All posts must be signed with your full name.
  • Be Civil and Respectful - This is a public forum with real people. Respect for one another here is paramount. No ad hominem attacks. These are conversations in which we debate ideas. Criticize ideas, not the people behind them.
  • No more than two posts per day, per member.
  • No selling of products or services. Let's keep this an ad-free zone.
  • No multimedia. If you wish to share outside sources, please link to them. Don't paste them in.

Who Runs This Forum

  • "Westborough Citizens Online" is the name of the group of residents and others with a stake in Westborough who are responsible for the charter and management of the online issues forum for Westborough, Massachusetts as implemented under the organization "E-Democracy.org".