Looking for new ways to engage with the Scotts Valley community, Mayor Jim Reed answered questions during the “Ask your Mayor” live broadcast on My Scotts Valley’s Facebook page Monday evening.
“We have to meet the fish where the fish are,” Reed said in an interview with the Press Banner on Tuesday. “I am hoping we can do more outreach using technology. It is all about getting meaningful news out to people where they are.”
Monday’s broadcast had approximately 784 viewers, a number widely impressive to Reed.
“I have never seen that many people show up to a city council meeting,” Reed said. “It was a great success, I enjoyed it. We could talk about the issues that are extremely relevant to the people in Scotts Valley. We could make it understandable and go in depth.”
According to Reed, there is no date set for him to do a second live broadcast, but he is eager to do it again in the near future. In addition to using Facebook, Reed stated he wants to hold some town halls using NextDoor, a popular social networking service.
During Monday’s question and answer discussion, key topics centered on additional hotels coming to Scotts Valley and creating affordable housing.
Reed stated at the conclusion of Monday’s broadcast, two things he thinks the town can do better is work on affordable housing by design and reassessing building standards.
“My priority is the core services of the town has a pathway to sustain for the future,” Reed said.
Over 20 questions were asked during the broadcast with over 40 comments submitted by viewers, some of which Reed was able to respond in real time.
Realtor and local resident, Robert Aldana, served as host for the event.
“It went really well. We got to touch on every single topic that was important or pressing,” Aldana said. “People are paying attention as this is an interesting time in our city.”
According to Aldana, over 2,000 people viewed the video since Monday and the post has reached over 5,100 people.
“It is a great platform,” Aldana said. “People were asking the questions that they felt were important.”
Aldana said he is planning to continue to host live broadcasts. The next broadcast will be “Ask the Police Chief” with Scotts Valley Police Chief Steve Walpole at 6 p.m. on Mon. Feb. 5th.
