WPCNR'S Mr. and Mrs. & Ms. White Plains Voice. May 2, 2006: An observer points out some lessons learned about community meetings:
Councilmembers,
I hope you do not overlook one important fact about the recent council
meetings. They were closer to the marathon sessions that use to take
place 15 years ago than most of the more recent meetings.
It is too easy to blame the residents for past poor meeting turn outs;
to rationalize that people are too busy, only interested things that
immediately affect themselves, or are only interested in their taxes.
But, you will always be goring someone´s ox, and out of 58,000
residents you should almost always be able to incense at least a couple
of dozen people enough to turn them out. Lately, we have demonstrated
that by informing people of the issues and venues, you can do just
that.
(More)
These must not be looked upon as politically motivated agitators that
need to be tolerated and controlled, but as energized resources that
the city must tap for everyone´s benefit. So, while you are thinking
about the merits of the specific issues, also take time to consider
what changes can be made to further encourage further public
participation.
As an example, if you had a problem that you just could not seem to get
resolved which would you be more likely to attend - a `Citizens be
Heard´ session where you just talked for 5 minutes with no feedback
(sort of like evening prayers), or a forum where the commissioners and
department heads were in attendance and there could be some dialog
(debate even)? Even if residents contact you directly with problems,
frequently you can only act as a middleman between the resident and the
city staff that can actually solve the issue.
Also, a number of the recent speakers were criticized for being
misinformed, and for getting their facts wrong. The criticism is
misplaced. If people have their facts wrong, it should be looked on as
an indication that the people who control the information need to do a
better job of making it available.
The city is changing, it its institutions need to change with it.
Don Hughes
