When working as an Americorps volunteer, engagment was seen as a multi-step process. We would take youth through week long 'civic engagement' camps to have them identify problems in their community and then design a project that addressed a particular issue (be it a letter writing campaign, volunteer project, etc).

Volunteering became a huge aspect of each project because it brought residents and county employees together, but also made complex issues, such as homelessness, real for the children in the camps. My recommendation is to create an internal volunteer program for employees similar to corporate volunteer programs. Maybe give employees 1 volunteer hour each month similar to sick time? Or honor outstanding employees with the most volunteer hours each year? Such a program shows that commitment for engagement starts at home and is carried throughout the County's structure.

The website could be more helpful in several respects: (1) The current search engine is not sophisticated and brings up too many responses to elementary requests. It is especially poor at directing inquiries to the many ancillary websites that keep being created for various county programs (walking, transit, biking, planning and so on). (2) Departmental descriptions are inadequate. One should be able to find a basic organizational chart, with names and contact information, for every department. DES is especially opaque. (3) Information on county-sponsored meetings, including commissions' meetings, should be available in one place. (Yes I know how challenging this is.)

The Arlington Way is alive & well. Anyone who wishes to participate can fron the neighborhood level to the broader county level. The more important question not being addressed is what does the government need to do to be more responsive to citizens? No one answers the phone numbers listed on the county website. Try it and you'll see what I mean. You leave messages and no one answers unless you contact the County Board office and they insist the employees call back. The County wants every one to use computers to communicate, but messages sit in County inboxes with no responses. I've had this experience with the Planning & Zoning Office and with DES. It's infuriating. I work for a neighboring jurisdiction where this would not be tolerated. Arlington County does not have a good reputation around the state. When I go to state meetings, Arlington representatives are never present. They are perceived to be disengaged and unprofessional. The question not being addressed in Arlington County is accountability for providing good quality, responsive services.

What are the key ways in which citizen participation would be welcomed and beneficial?
Seems to me, the answer includes: (1) voting when there are elections, (2) joining county citizens advisory groups (3) offering input to government at all levels when input is needed on particular issues, and (4) volunteering in county offices. One key way to encourage this participation is organizing the information. A tab and page that makes clear civic participation is a priority, and how the county would like citizens to engage the county at all levels would be great. Pieces of this info are available in different sections on the county website now, but not unified together on a civic engagement page. As part of a civic engagement page, an online "input box" could also create a common place where citizens could offer input to government at all levels on issues when input is needed. This could be on county-initiated topics, and possibly citizen-initiated ones as well. This could be a forum, where citizens can see what others are saying, and create a conversation, or it simply could be an online suggestion box, with input visible only to the county office seeking the input or to which the citizen-initiated input is directed.