We believe that more informed citizens will translate into more informed voters.
We believe informed Voters will elect people that share their ideas and concerns.
We believe this is the best route to "Quality" Elected Officials. Officials who serve their community and fellow constituents, and are not beholden to any person or organization which does not put the best interests of our community first.
We are proposing the following as steps towards more community involvement and more transparency in how decisions are being made:
- Televise all village Board and Committee meetings on local cable TV
- Create regularly scheduled "Town Hall" meetings, to discuss Board and Committee meetings, including what are the ramifications of decisions made and how will this affect the community.
- Reduce the number of closed-door "executive sessions"
What are your thoughts on this topic, and what other suggestion do you have for making it easier for citizens to participate in their government and keep themselves informed?
Good Idea. Many towns do it and therby make government more transparent. What is being hidden?
ReplyDeleteWe received a comment claiming that Monday night Board and Committee Meetings are on TV now. We contacted the Village Clerk's office (12-18-08), and they advised that these meetings are NOT televised.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, the following is the comment we received, in it's entirety:
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(Anonymous) 12-18-08 09:57AM
Great point but they already are on tv plus the meetings are open to the public.
There is a great deal of info in the public published printed minutes.
Looking forward to hear about other more important ideas!
"
We believe that fair, honest and open government IS important.
Regarding the meetings being open to the public, and the "printed minutes", please see our separate post in this same blog topic.
We appreciate this input from (Anonymous).
We also appreciate ideas and solutions as well!
My mistake- i did think they were already on tv.
ReplyDeleteDespite that they are still open to the public, I have attended a few where i read the agenda online and i wanted to hear discusion myself.
Community involvement will come from becoming active not from watching it on tv. You folks are becoming involved by running, thats active participation.
Become active by attending a meeting and have your comments added to the minutes. Start a petition in your neighborhood and present it at a meeting.
The key word as noted in your blog is "participation", then they will become better informed.
Good luck in the next few months, i look forward to reading more on your platform for your election.
Great Comment. Great Suggestions.
ReplyDeleteIncreased Participation and Awareness is our goal.
It is our opinion that televising the meetings would allow more people to participate who otherwise could not attend a meeting in person.
It may also serve to energize more participation, once voters can see for themselves what is or is not done in the meetings.
The agendas are nice, and the minutes add some of the detail once they are made available. But the minutes in no way reflect everything that is discussed or presented in the meetings. For example, there are presentations, slide shows etc occasionally which contain some very important and enlightening information that are not included in the minutes.
In this day and age of on-line video downloads, DVRs and on-demand video and movies, this should not take a great leap or investment to implement. And unlike the 35 - 50 million dollars that has been sunk into the 143rd street fiasco in an attempt to lure a developer to help create the mayor's "legacy", taping and or televising the Board and Committee meetings would actually provide a value to the people of Orland Park.