2.0 people: McGinn campaign volunteer Brett Horvath (left) and McGinn at today’s

2.0 people: McGinn campaign volunteer Brett Horvath (left) and McGinn at today’s eventIs the suffix “2.0” today’s stereo-to-11, or has it been around long enough that if we want to to take it to the next level, as the America’s Best Dance Crew judges and sundry sports broadcasters would put it, we have to do 3.0, or even 2.1?Either way, Mike McGinn was talking “Government 2.0” at Theater 2(.0) at the Northwest Film Forum today, before an audience comprised of open government advocates and neighborhood activists. McGinn presented and solicited ideas on how to use technology to make government more efficient and accessible to city residents who are looking to get information and/or contribute their ideas and expertise.What would this look like? Among the examples McGinn liked are an iPhone app in Pittsburgh that lets residents alert city officials about potholes, Chicago’s crime statistics website, and DataSF, the new San Francisco website that acts as a clearinghouse for government records and that recently drew praise from the White House.The centerpiece of McGinn’s 2.0 efforts thus far is a website his campaign has launched, ideasforseattle.org. It’s a little like Twitter on a diet, combined with American Idol: users can contribute their ideas for the city (100 characters or less!) and other users can vote those ideas up or down. (On a related note, Barack Obama tried something similar during his presidential campaign but ignored the very-popular proposals related to marijuana law reform; McGinn sounded a sympathetic note in favor of the reformers, saying “those people have really good arguments and no one will listen to them.”) It was a friendly crowd, for the most part, albeit one frustrated with the city’s information policies. (Among the city’s sins, as detailed by an audience member, are scanning documents as images, thus preventing users from searching for words, translating the documents, and doing other things that might make the information accessible to anyone other than educated, English-speaking persons of leisure.McGinn encountered the most resistance from Capitol Hill activist Dennis Saxman, best known for suing over the approved development that was supposed to be sited adjacent to the $2 million sidewalk Mark Fefer wrote about this week. Saxman felt DPD had frozen out neighborhood activists and was skeptical that a McGinn DPD would listen any better, to which McGinn replied that he was listening at the moment. Still, McGinn will clearly have his work cut out for him if he’s to satisfy both the neighborhood activists who are frustrated with the DPD/Nickels’ push for upzones and succeed in creating neighborhood plans that will satisfy the density advocates who comprise a large (or at least vocal) contingent of his base. He acknowledged tensions in the planning process but asserted his confidence that most of the city is on the same page in its general goals (walkability, affordability, and environmental responsibility). As with convincing the state to maintain its tunnel-level funding for a surface option, he’ll have to show some serious skills to make good on his campaign talk.Full disclosure: As I was huffing up Pike Street, running late for the event, I heard someone shout my name. It was Mike McGinn, and he wasn’t on his bike–he was in some sort of hybrid SUV/wagon, being driven by one of his supporters. I accepted his offer of a ride, during which McGinn explained that he’d left his bike parked on the street and accepted the ride because he was running late. I forgot to ask him whether, if elected, he plans on continuing Nickels’ driver service.