Never one to miss an opportunity to be in the public eye, Comptroller Peter Franchot has been an avid Tweeter in recent weeks, posting thoughts about hockey, his dog’s looks and his son’s birthday on Twitter.com. He also uses the popular social-networking tool, which allows users to broadcast thoughts in 140 characters or less, to discuss his job.

In that vein, Maryland’s chief tax collector announced Tuesday that he would be tweeting about the Board of Public Works meeting on Wednesday. He said in e-mail to supporters: “I believe it's critical for people to be connected with their elected officials, and it's why I'm using Twitter to reach out. So, please, follow us at www.twitter.com/peterfranchot tomorrow!”

It didn’t take long for a Twitterer named technosailor, or Aaron Brazell from Bethesda, to point out that Congress caught a lot of flak for tweeting during President Obama’s State of the Union address. And it didn’t take long — a matter of minutes — for Franchot to respond that he wouldn’t be multi-tasking during the Board of Public Works, which has purview over state contracts. Rather, he and his staff would be doing the tweeting before and after the meeting.

So goes today’s real-time public policy debate.