Dan your thoughts and comments are giving me extremely valuable insights.  Thank you again.  I think the school board is an excellent example of the hurdles and limitations of current civic systems.  With that said, following Neal Postman's thinking from Amusing Ourselves to Death, one of the limitations of new forms of media (including online media) appears to be the issues you raise about un-civilized conversations and the challenge of separating facts from the noise and chatter of uninformed opinion.

- How do you create a respectful environment for civic discourse where all ideas are heard, yet still provide a mechanism whereby those participants whose contributions are the most valuable naturally rise to the top (they "become" influential)?

- Besides providing visibility to their identity is there a method for building influence or local reputation?