OpenGov
will share your response with the City of Vestavia Hills staff. Do you also want your response shown on this website?
Yes -
show it with my name on this website
Sign in and be yourself
Sign in and let others know who you are and what you think. You can sign in now or after you submit your response. You'll be able to read your response on this website and change it if you change your mind.
Read more about privacy >
No - just show it without my name to staff
* required
Be anonymous
We recommend against this option. Even though your response will be shared with staff, it won’t be shown on this public website so other community members won’t have the opportunity to see it.
Concerned about sharing your contact information with OpenGov?
Read more about privacy >
Read more about privacy >
What is a disruptive statement?
A statement
containing personal attacks, profanity, commercial advertising or content which is entirely off-topic, and/or
from a user who has falsified their registration information with the intent to post multiple statements in one topic or to misrepresent their city of residence.
Why does Open Town Hall monitor for disruptive statements?
OpenGov is a non-partisan company dedicated to building public trust in government and broadening civic engagement. Many people will not participate if the forum has disruptive statements.
Does Open Town Hall find many disruptive statements?
No. Disruptive statements are quite rare - less than one in a thousand statements are disruptive.
What does Open Town Hall do if they find a disruptive statement?
Open Town Hall
moves the statement to a different web page,
describes the problem in an email to the author, and
invites the author to change the statement.
Does Open Town Hall ever edit or delete statements?
Never. Only the statement's author can edit or delete a statement.
If I disagree with someone, can I post my opinion?
Yes. Open Town Hall encourages open dialog which, by necessity, includes disagreements.
How do I know if my statement is a 'disagreement' or a 'personal attack'?
Personal attacks are disparaging remarks which impute motives to a person's action. Statements of fact, or of your own opinion are generally not personal attacks.
Here are some examples of statements which are, and are not, personal attacks.
Personal Attack
Not A Personal Attack
He lied.
He said he did X, but in fact he did Y.
She misrepresented the truth.
I don't trust her.
He is greedy.
He is making plenty of money.
It is merely a power play on her part.
She will announce her candidacy soon.
Vestavia Hills Listens has two participation channels :
The Registered Channel: Sign in before or just after you submit your response. Either way, Open Town Hall will show your response on this website.
The Unregistered Channel: Don't sign in and remain anonymous. Open Town Hall will just share your response with Vestavia Hills staff.
Note: The first time you sign in, you'll need to register (establish an account on Vestavia Hills Listens). Registration is free.
The City of Vestavia Hills has contracted with Open Town Hall to monitor responses shown on this website.
To prevent any single user from dominating the forum, the City of Vestavia Hills restricts the number of responses any one user can post on selected topics. Registration helps Open Town Hall enforce this restriction.
Users, staff and government leaders often want to know the neighborhood from which a response is posted. Open Town Hall uses registration to show the neighborhood next to each response (not the address).
If a user posts a response that does not meet the City of Vestavia Hills guidelines for civility , Open Town Hall uses the user's email address to invite the user to resolve the issue.
Open Town Hall will get your contact information. The company is under contract with the City of Vestavia Hills to hold it in strict confidence per their privacy policy .
Since you'll see your own response on Vestavia Hills Listens, you'll be able to confirm that your response was posted as you intended.
You'll be able to change and/or delete your response as long as the topic is open.
Yes. Sign out, then set your privacy preference to be "No - just show it without my name to staff". You won't need to register.
While no authentication procedure can perfectly detect every fraudulent registration, Open Town Hall is able to secure the registered channel against systematic fraud : cases where users submit enough statements with fraudulent registrations to sway the overall interpretation of the feedback.
Open Town Hall is unable to secure the unregistered channel against systematic fraud, because unregistered users are anonymous.
Neither the registered nor the unregistered channel represent a certified voting system or ballot box - and that caveat is footnoted on every page of feedback. Instead, both are additional channels for feedback to government.
Users can participate on the registered channel (by signing in) or on the unregistered channel (by remaining anonymous). The City of Vestavia Hills offers both channels in order to broaden participation and maximize decision makers' insights.
The registered channel enables users to assure decision makers that their feedback comes from a real person in a specific neighborhood. It also enables users to participate in a public discussion on the website, as well as manage their own response after posting it.
The unregistered channel is for users who want to provide quick feedback without registering, and/or whose privacy concerns would prevent them from participating if required to register. Because many users with valuable insights will only share them anonymously, this channel gives decision makers the option to consider those insights in their deliberations.
OpenGovl is a non-partisan company whose mission is to broaden civic engagement and build public trust in government. The City of Vestavia Hills has contracted with OpenGov to administer Vestavia Hills Listens.
Street Address:
* required
What is your interest in the project?
* required
What is your opinion of the project?
* required
Comments on purpose and need:
Comments or suggestions on the project:
What is a disruptive statement?
A statement
containing personal attacks, profanity, commercial advertising or content which is entirely off-topic, and/or
from a user who has falsified their registration information with the intent to post multiple statements in one topic or to misrepresent their city of residence.
Why does Open Town Hall monitor for disruptive statements?
OpenGov is a non-partisan company dedicated to building public trust in government and broadening civic engagement. Many people will not participate if the forum has disruptive statements.
Does Open Town Hall find many disruptive statements?
No. Disruptive statements are quite rare - less than one in a thousand statements are disruptive.
What does Open Town Hall do if they find a disruptive statement?
Open Town Hall
moves the statement to a different web page,
describes the problem in an email to the author, and
invites the author to change the statement.
Does Open Town Hall ever edit or delete statements?
Never. Only the statement's author can edit or delete a statement.
If I disagree with someone, can I post my opinion?
Yes. Open Town Hall encourages open dialog which, by necessity, includes disagreements.
How do I know if my statement is a 'disagreement' or a 'personal attack'?
Personal attacks are disparaging remarks which impute motives to a person's action. Statements of fact, or of your own opinion are generally not personal attacks.
Here are some examples of statements which are, and are not, personal attacks.
Personal Attack
Not A Personal Attack
He lied.
He said he did X, but in fact he did Y.
She misrepresented the truth.
I don't trust her.
He is greedy.
He is making plenty of money.
It is merely a power play on her part.
She will announce her candidacy soon.
Fields marked with * are required
Full Name:
Katie WoodruffStreet Address:
Old Oak LaneCity:
Vestavia HillsState:
AZIP:
35243What is your interest in the project?
What is your opinion of the project?
Comments on purpose and need:
This bridge has been desperately needed for YEARS. I constantly see people running across the highway to get from one side to the other, often with their children. We’re lucky no one has been hit yet. We need to have a safe way for pedestrians to get back and forth from the Library on the northbound side and the park, elementary schools, City Hall and soon the new Community Center on the southbound side. Despite having sidewalks on both sides of the highway, there’s no where to cross 31 south of Canyon Road, nearly a mile away. Making our city as walkable as possible needs to be a top priority.
Comments or suggestions on the project:
ALDOT should be embarrassed by how long they've made this project drag out. Our city has been trying to get this bridge built for over ten years. The funding is mostly from a grant, so there really is no reason not to build it.