BURBANK : Electronic Forum to Be Fine-Tuned

The “Electronic Towne Hall,” a phone-in forum in which Burbank residents could berate or applaud their City Council from the comfort of their living rooms, is being fine-tuned.

“I like to say that I’m building on what George Battey did,” said Bill Wiggins, who replaced Battey this week as Burbank’s mayor. The mayor’s post is rotated among the council members each year.

Battey tried to promote the city and bring residents closer to government by using television, which was already being used to cover City Council meetings. He started a weekly television call-in show called “Ask the Mayor,” airing Wednesday evenings. In February, the council started the Electronic Towne Hall, a monthly forum in which callers can phone the council chambers and make comments or ask questions.

“We were hoping we could get calls from those who couldn’t come down to the council meetings,” Wiggins said, explaining that some people would rather not have to wait until 10 or 11 p.m., or even after midnight, to address the council about a problem. But the forum, which usually gets nine to 14 calls during a 45-minute session, had been slipping into just another version of “Ask the Mayor.”

Wiggins, saying he wanted to do more, is having the town hall meeting changed. Instead of just waiting for calls to come in on random subjects, the council would have city officials report on an issue and have viewers call in with comments.

The new format was set at Tuesday’s council meeting.

Wiggins is also revamping Battey’s “Ask the Mayor,” program to spotlight different city departments.