Enough Citizen Involvement in Local Government? | Bill Roehl

Enough Citizen Involvement in Local Government? | Bill Roehl: "1. The announcement for the meeting was made available to the public via Rosemount’s local newspaper ~36 hours prior to the meeting itself. Aside from the fact that in 2011 newspapers, especially local ones, are read by very few it just makes no sense to provide information about an upcoming meeting which needs participation to be successful with only a few hours notice.


2. Providing only one method for collecting citizen input for such an important topic is quite unfortunate. Most people are uninterested in participating in person at a public event and thus the opinions provided are usually dominated by those who are comfortable in that setting or have an agenda they wish to be heard. While other methods are likely to be available such as phone or e-mail communications, they aren’t made known and they still do not make room for those individuals who are uncomfortable with direct communications methods.

3. Is public input about a topic such as economic development going to help a town which forced a downtown revitalization and has been suffering with a lack of business for over two years and has taken input from “the public” in the past in the way of a single person’s opinion?"

These are good lessons for government officials to remember.

Judge files claim for pothole damage | River Falls Journal | River Falls, Wisconsin

Judge files claim for pothole damage | River Falls Journal | River Falls, Wisconsin: "St. Croix County Circuit Judge Eric J. Lundell has filed a $1,432 claim against the city of Hudson for damage done to a family car when it hit a pothole in Coulee Road last January."