Mayor Rahm Emanuel Will Participate in Two Town Halls to Continue Open Government Initiatives

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Today Mayor Emanuel announced that he will participate in two town hall discussions with Chicagoans across the city to ensure his administration is open and accountable to the public.

“A commitment to openness and accountability is at the core of our administration; Chicagoans have questions and deserve open, honest answers from their government,” said Mayor Emanuel, “I promised during the campaign to hold telephone town halls to talk directly to the people of Chicago. We’re leveraging new technologies to bring even more people into the conversation and to find new, innovative ways to make Chicago even stronger.”

Mayor Emanuel will participate in a telephone town hall discussion with Chicagoans on Monday, June 27 at 6pm. People across Chicago can call in to: (800) 398-9397. More information for the event can be found at www.cityofchicago.org/askchicago.

Mayor Emanuel will also participate in a Facebook Town Hall, #AskChicago, on Thursday June 30 at 1:30pm. This marks the first time a sitting mayor of a major city will hold a live online chat in which questions will be submitted and ranked by the public. The live event is being hosted at Kennedy-King College.

The public can begin asking questions today by visiting www.cityofchicago.org/askchicago and join the conversations already happening on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ChicagoMayorsOffice) and Twitter (@ChicagosMayor) using #AskChicago.

The Mayor will answer questions during the live broadcasted town hall, which will be co-hosted by WGCI’s Tony Sculfield and Nina Chantele from “Tony Sculfield and the Morning Riot.”

In addition to streaming live and being archived online, the Mayor’s office is working with the Smart Communities program and the city’s Department of Innovation and Technology to schedule #AskChicago viewing events at select public and community facilities that have internet available. Residents can contact 3-1-1 to find neighborhood locations that offer free computer and internet access to the public. Scheduled events will be posted on the Mayor’s Facebook page.

To ask a question, participate in either of the town halls, or learn more about the City of Chicago, please visit http://www.facebook.com/ChicagoMayorsOffice or www.twitter.com/ChicagosMayor.

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