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Peggy Vlerebome
Courier Staff Writer
Last year, Andrew Forrester was a senior at Wabash College majoring in political science. Now he’s about to be a major player in Madison politics as an executive in the new city administration.
“I like politics, but I figured I’d go into some kind of finance or business,” Forrester, 22, said. “This is fantastic. I never imagined I’d be in this position.”
As executive assistant in charge of community relations in the new administration at City Hall, Forrester’s duties will include being the liaison between Mayor Damon Welch’s office and organizations, festivals and businesses. He’s also taking on one of his interests – making city government more accessible through social media.
“I love the city of Madison, and so that’s the main reason I decided to come back,” said Forrester, a 2007 graduate of Madison Consolidated High School.
Forrester said he isn’t going into the job with a lot of ideas. “I’ve just taken opportunities as they have come,” said Forrester, who started working in Welch’s campaign while still in college.
“I’m really excited about the next year from the idea standpoint,” Forrester said. “What I’m looking at are fresh ideas, looking at city government from a fresh perspective.
“One of the things I’m passionate about (is) better use of social media and technology.”
He said the city has started using such things as a city website, but there is more that can be done with the array of media available to have back-and-forth communication.
“Why not use that as a way to connect to citizens, use that as a way to get feedback about citizens’ services,” Forrester said.
Social media “are ways we can get information to people” in addition to the traditional forms of the newspaper and radio, he said.
Using both old and new media could help the city “hit a wider ranger of people,” he said.
Courtesy of the Madison Courier
http://madisoncourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=178&SubSectionID=963&ArticleID=67048