Southgate tries another digital tool to involve residents

It will cost $7,500 with lower collaborative pricing gained by working with other municipalities.

The start-up time to launch the platform could be as soon as six weeks, the report said.

DIGITAL GAINS

This is not the first time Southgate has tried an online platform to get the public more involved.

Deputy Mayor Barbara Dobreen mentioned one of the previous ones: Bang the Table.

But the idea keeps circling back due to a lack of participation seen in many traditional public forums.

In-person budget meetings in Southgate, even when offered in the evening, had notably low attendance.

Online comes with promises to overcome barriers of time, geography and some forms of accessibility.

Such methods, said the report from CAO Jim Ellis can complement traditional public meetings, and put local issues and decision-making in front of the public.

The new Keppel municipal facilities are at front of mind now for Southgate.

As well, Mr. Ellis referred to an exercise that Grey Highlands has used in budget consultation. The platform  assigns the public a fictional $100, and asks people to assign different amounts reflecting their own priorities in the budget.

Grey Highlands has been using the platform since 2023, and Meaford is putting it in place at present.

Many times, social media can generate discussion around a topic but the uncontrolled space has drawbacks as well as benefits, in feeding negative comments that may be anonymous.

With a municipal platform, can be online like many residents but in a more interactive way than the official website.

Governments can create their own graphics to illustrate topics. and can gather comments and survey responses. At the same time, the engagement platforms have automatic filters for inappropriate comments.

Such platforms require less staff time than in-person meeting attendance and reporting and can be lower in cost.

COUNTY TO USE SYSTEM

Grey County approved adopting Social Point through a “single source” decision in April of 2026. The County price is $36,500, with pricing based on population. The lower tiers have a negotiated lower price.

The County staff report said the company offered new tools to engage the public. Staff introduced the tool to area CAOs and reached out to those using it and Social Point was preferred over the other major player in themarket.

A link can be developed so that the lower-tiers and the county sites could be reached in one central hub.

Mike McInerny of Owen Sound is the business manager for the area for Social Point, and spoke to council earlier in August.

He spoke about the “guardrails” of the system, which also has live moderation available round the clock to review comments.

“It’s not the Wild West of social media,” he said.

He said there’s still room for staff to print out digital surveys, and return them for those who need or want to do that.

Deputy Mayor Dobreen said that Social Point would not eliminate in-person engage­ment. While hopeful about the new platform, she asked about leaving and heard that there is a termination clause.

Coun. Martin Shipston said almost everyone has a cellphone, which could be used to access the site.

Coun. Jason Rice asked why the new platform would work when the previous attempt didn’t.

CAO Ellis said times keep changing, and more and more people use phones, and more residents are unable to attend in-person events due to working out of town.

“It’s worth a try to see where it goes,” he said.

The Australian company that offers the software in July  acquired Converlens, which it already had been using to provide AI data analytics – to move from users move from “mountains of data” into better-informed decisions, the company said.

The same type of platform for engagement is used in many settings, and offers engaging interactive tools, such as the budget program. Broadly speaking, the programs use what’s called “gamification”, to make participation more fun.

The combination of game-like approaches helps residents engage in an area that often requires particular knowledge of limits and laws.

Developers try to provide a range of tools not just to engage but to inform and empower.

Timelines, documents, pie graphs and more are used on sites such as Grey Highlands to give background.