How Will I Encourage Citizen Involvement?
I love the idea of citizen involvement. I do recognize, however, that one of the reasons for a representative form of government is so that a few people, whose judgment voters trust, can spend the time to really research and understand City issues. Some people vote for their representatives and then trust that they will be represented. A lack of large attendance at City Council meetings is not necessarily a sign of apathy. Sometimes it demonstrates trust and satisfaction with the direction the City is headed. However, sometimes a lack of participation demonstrates a sense of frustration and disenfranchisement. This is why it is so important to be approachable and accessible. Our new City website is a good start in the dissemination of information to citizens. It’s still a work in progress, but I like the direction it’s headed. Someone has suggested adding the ability to collect citizen input quickly through this venue. I am quite intrigued by this potential. What a great way to gauge the mood of our City! I would also like to have more information available regarding the agendas that are posted for City meetings. Sometimes the items listed are so vague, that if you don’t already know what is being considered, the agenda is not a useful tool. Actually, I have come to realize that some of the agendas I have posted for Planning Commission meetings have been guilty of this very thing. This is a problem that I will work on resolving whether or not I am elected to the City Council. We could also use – and I will encourage and support – holding regular Town Hall-type meetings. I envision 2-4 each year. These would differ from Public Hearings in that we would not be addressing very narrow items, but could consider a large scope of City issues, and there would be more give-and-take interaction between citizens and the Mayor and Council. I think the information gathered at these meetings would be invaluable to me as a Councilmember. Additionally, we have at least one current City Councilman who is very good at communicating with a large e-mail group. I would like to follow this example. I will also make my e-mail address readily accessible. (And, of course, my phone number is in the book!)