The anonymity of the online process can contribute to this problem. Announce-only or broadcast lists are often more successful in the community context than interactive discussion. Despite the strong vision around interactive discussion - that everyone should be both a publisher and consumer of information, not everyone feels comfortable in that role. Try it in your community. Give it everything you've got.
Useful implementations tend to be moderated live interviews with candidates and elected officials.
Initial content on this site developed by Terry Grunwald and David Wilcox of Making the Net Work .