Blame it on the World Series.
We have noticed attendance at the community planning sessions to update the 2006 city comprehensive plan dwindle.
Turnout for the first meeting, held Aug. 31, was great: 120. By the second meeting, held Oct. 5, that number was cut in half, with 60 showing up.
On Monday, that number again fell by nearly half, with just 35 people in attendance.
It was probably Game 5 of the World Series that hurt last night’s turnout, as the Phillies held on to defeat the New York Yankees 8-6, making the series tally 3-2 in favor of the Yankees.
We hope that wasn’t it, not in this age of DVR and TiVo. Besides, the meeting was over by 8 p.m., enough time to watch part of the series, anyway.
Folks, it’s important to make your voice known, to give advice as to what direction you want to see Neosho take.
And last night’s meeting may have been the most important in the series. Last night, participants didn’t just dream big and make pie in the sky wishes. Last night, participants got down to the nitty gritty, suggesting ways the city could raise revenues and trim expenses. Many proposed a city property tax to go into effect after sales tax revenues declined to a certain point. Many also suggested eliminating overtime and comp time for city workers, voluntary unpaid vacations, reducing health care costs and encouraging healthy lifestyles, watching overhead and expenses, and conducting an energy audit on city buildings.
All good suggestions. But we wonder: what suggestions did we not get to hear and consider last night? What good idea was not voiced, because the person who had it didn’t think the meeting was important enough to attend?
One of the suggestions last night was a return to volunteerism, to public service.
We couldn’t agree more. Part of that service is taking an active role in your city government.
It begins with voting in elections, but it also entails attending city council meetings, planning sessions and making your opinions known. And if you feel you are qualified, it entails running for office.
Community input isn’t easy. It takes effort. It requires thought. It takes a certain amount of guts to stand up for what you believe in, for putting your ideas on the table.
But it’s worth it. How else can anyone affect change? How else can we let our city administrators know what we think? How can they know if we don’t tell them? And if they don’t listen, we keep telling them until they do.
What if our founding fathers had said “You know, I really don’t like King George’s ‘Taxation Without Representation’ policy, but what can I do about it?”
Aren’t you glad they didn’t?
DAILY NEWS
