Communication in the Park

One of the issues discussed at last night's special council meeting was the lack of communication within the Village and between Council and the residents. 

Although personally I don't think twitter is the way to go, we need better communication. 

Council could start by keeping village affairs in the purview of those who are paying for it; the residents. 

Council has a pattern of waiting until the last minute to divulge information to get residents involved and informed. And them they complain that no one gets involved. 

We don't find out about meetings unless we A. Attend all the meetings to hear the plans for next week B. know people who attend all the meetings and pass on the message or C. Well I can't come up with anything for item c because there is no item c that I'm aware of. 

Also, we don't have any knowledge of what really happens with legislation until after its passed. 

It seems everything is discussed behind closed doors or discussed in passing in the village meetings and not shared with the entire village until its irreversible. 

Example: the trash contract. It was being discussed in 2011 that residents might have to start paying for trash out of pocket. Residents had little clue about this until 14 days before the bill came in April 2013. By then it was too late to do anything about it. 

So, now that I've given you some examples of the problem, lets discuss some possible resolutions. 

Twitter is not going to go far in my opinion but *something* is better than nothing that's for sure. 

Ideally we need something either free or very cheap and with the ability to cross generations. We have residents with varying degrees of technology and should not exclude that population that doesn't use Facebook or twitter or blogger or the World Wide Web. 

The MPCA has a phone tree system but the community association should not be held responsible for disseminating the messages of council. They already are in that the villager is the only way to get hard copy information about the goings on. 

The signs for the special council meeting were taken somewhat positively. If we could get a sign for each entrance and make the changes as needed for the dates or info that would be a great start. New ones are expensive but I would bet the mayor has a few extra she could donate to the cause. She did plaster the village with them last election whether asked to or not. 

If the village would make use of the resources we have here in our residents, we could resolve many issues that we have. So, please offer your thoughts whether realistic or completely hopeful. A thought cannot hurt. 

-Jessica Rhoads 

Rhoadsformp@gmail.com