This week’s Tuesday Blogversation is with Bill Roehl. He’s the bearded man behind “Lazy Lightning – The South Metro News Source”. I met Bill recently at the Minnesota Beard Off (source of the picture to the left). His blog has been mentioned a few times as a must read by other bloggers I’ve interviewed.
Bill Roehl ( blog | twitter ) is self-described as the “South Metro’s biggest fucking pain in the ass”. When he’s not bugging local city councils or pestering the local government for documentation he’s a data geek for a college in Minneapolis. He has a passion for getting others involved in hyper-local politics and locally grown organic food (and of course his family).
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What made you decide to be a source for South Metro news?
It started out as a big joke to poke a little bit of fun at the local papers. I needed a slogan and I thought I was being funny. Originally the header said “News” but when I had the logo redesigned by Square Logo I told him to just drop the quotes. As I became obsessed with requesting, researching, and writing up stuff that mainstream media was either ignoring or simply glossing over, I suppose the joke was less so. That said, I still don’t consider myself a news source. I’m more of an assholish dude doing what he enjoys to do–live up to his Twitter bio of “The South Metro’s biggest fucking pain in the ass.” I’m not quite sure that would work as a site motto however.
Do you have a background in journalism or political science or are you a concerned resident only?
No background, just an interest in research and what’s going on in my area. While the majority of Americans seem to feel that their vote and their opinion counts in State and Federal decision making, you’re much more likely to see actions that directly impact you and your family at a local level. So while it’s important to be informed at the state and federal levels, it’s the local level where people need more information and I’m happy to help them get that information.
What’s the biggest story you’ve uncovered?
I guess I never really looked at any of what I do as being “big,” I just find stuff and put it out there for other people to read. I asked a couple of people who read the site what they thought the biggest story was and I got a wide range of responses so nothing which created a consensus–bastards. I have a few pieces of my site that I’m most proud of:
- Estimating, in May, that the Burnsville Performing Arts Center would end up losing about $825,000 in 2009 (Over $500,000 more than originally anticipated) and then having it come out, in November, that was almost spot on accurate when they released that the BPAC would lose around $834,000 for the year.
- Creating three crime related dashboards which pull data several times a day from publicly available information and displays the information in ways which are more visually interesting than the county/state sources it is derived from.
- Putting all of the Burnsville Performing Arts Center financial documentation out in the public for people to view. While the City of Burnsville refuses to put that information on their website where it belongs I know it needs to be seen. Yeah, it’s a real royal pain to get the information monthly (requests, reminders, general begging, etc) but based on how many people use that information and read it every month when it comes out, I guess it’s useful to others.
For a story like the Burnsville Performing Arts Center finances, how much time do you spend from idea to published?
Depends on how long the information request with the city takes. I have, at times, waited up to two months for information to be released to me. In a current on-going request with the MVTA I have been waiting 9 days for them to respond to a question of mine after several back and forth e-mails and phone calls on the topic. I have been waiting even longer for a data request I paid $50 to receive. I don’t even want to estimate how many man hours their staff has wasted communicating with me on the two topics being requested instead of just posting what I want on their website–like they should do anyway.
That all aside, generally if I have the information available then I can bang out the average 1000 word post in an hour or so.
Why do you think it’s a pain in the ass for you to get monthly information… every month?
Two reasons:
- Because, in general, government is inefficient.
- Because government wants control over their information and when they release it to the public they lose that control. By delaying the inevitable they believe they have time to properly pen the appropriate PR response. Unfortunately no matter what they say when the raw information is there people can make up their own minds as to what it says.
Where do you find your sources?
If you mean where do I come up with post topics, well, various places but mainly other more mainstream media coverage or local government meeting agenda, minutes, or the meetings themselves. I request a lot of information (such as what is mentioned above in #2) directly from the government agencies themselves. I spend a lot of time watching the city council meetings which are available on the web after looking through their agendas to see if anything looks exciting. I’m probably the only person in Apple Valley who actually watches Apple Valley City Council meetings and if I’m not the only person who watches every single one that’s available across the South Metro–well then I want to meet these other people because we need to start City Council Meeting Watchers Anonymous.
“Hi, my name is Bill and I’m addicted to watching city council meetings which have little direct impact on me.”
“Hi Bill.”
Do you attend the City Council meetings in person or watch via public access cable / streaming?
Both. I used to always attend them in person but found it was easier for me to watch multiple council meetings from the privacy of my own home and take notes at the same time. Instead of taking the time and money to drive to the meetings (which sometimes last several hours) and then drive home before writing a post, it’s easier for me to just type the post as I go. But some meetings are not televised (such as worksessions for some cities) and I may want to ask questions of those presenting. In those cases I will show up in person although that has become infrequent since the birth of my son.
Would you consider running for a council seat?
No.
What does it take for a story to be written up and posted?
A couple of things: First it has to interest me. I am not going to spend hours on end researching and writing 700 to 1300 words about a topic I don’t really have any interest in. That would be a bigger waste of time than it already is and when no one else really gives a shit about it well then what was the point? After all people only come to my site for the food and some just happen to tolerate the politics… Second, it has to be truthful and have factual documentation to back it up. I have had a lot of tips come in from other people about really important topics but if I can’t find something tangible to present then I generally won’t post it–unless I think it’s hilarious and it’s just asking for me to make fun of someone. Ahh, the joys of being a dude with a website.
What won’t you cover (besides topics unrelated to the south metro)?
Religion is the only thing I won’t touch. However I do cover topics that aren’t South Metro related if something strikes me as noteworthy or it’s about food. Generally, however, I know that the billions of other bloggers who are more in touch with their own areas are going to beat me out and have better insight into what’s going on in those areas so I keep the majority of my content focused down here. You know where no one else cares to spend the time talking about areas that most people just don’t give a shit about.
How has writing about the south metro helped you personally?
I like/want to believe that some changes have come about as the politicos have read what I have written and the responses their constituents have added. I watched one City Council veer far and fast from their original course because they knew that whatever they were about to do (good or bad) would end up on the Internet in a way that wasn’t just the same old tired crap that is fed to the public via the local weeklies. Even if I am not affecting change as I like to pretend in my own little fantasy world I want to think that it gives me something to put my extra energy into. I have met a lot of amazing people through my site and I wouldn’t give that up for anything.
What other kinds of blogging do you do (and where)?
I guess it depends on your definition of “blogging”. While I have a tumblelog to keep family and friends up to date on my kid and I use Twitter (@garciasn), both of which are generally considered to be “blogs,” I pretty much keep it to Lazy Lightning only. I spend enough time on that site…I really don’t need to get into other avenues as well.
What other blogs do you read?
I am usually subscribed to more than 1000 RSS feeds at any given time. I routinely narrow that list down based on which ones haven’t updated content in more than two months (unless I know them personally or I think they’re worthy of staying in the mix longer) but off the top of my head here are a few locals I will spend more time than just glancing at the one line blurb:
Tumblelogs: Mediation, Marrina, Aaron’s Hotlinks, Deets After Dark, boom, weeks101
Plain old blogs (in alphabetical order and ones I do not believe have appeared in other recent interviewee’s lists): Cafe Cyan, I Will Dare, Old and in the Way, Prior Fat Girl, SingleSpeed, Your Dress Would Look Better On Me
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Tuesday Blogversation is a weekly series on iamdez.com featuring bloggers of all kinds from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / Saint Paul) area. If you’d like to be considered for an interview please send mail to dez [at] iamdez [dot] com or get ahold of me on twitter.
