Council Road Show

The city council will be holding the first of what will hopefully be a regular "road show" event. On April 29th we will be meeting at Hazelwood Elementary School at 7pm it what will be a Town Hall format meeting. The meeting will begin with a presentation from the chief of police about our police services and then a presentation of some of the other current city projects in the works. Following the presentations will be open QA and social time.

I hope to see you there.

Looking Beyond "Want"

In business we typically don't ask customers what they want, rather we ask them what problems they have and as business leaders we try to find or create a product(s) that meets that need. As an example, if you asked a group of consumers in the 90's about what kind of portable electronic device they "wanted" the answer would have been a CD player that didn't skip. Focus group after focus group proved consumers wanted CD players as their preferred media device. But the real answer was in the fact that they actually wanted something that didn't skip, but most consumers couldn't look past the form factor of the CD so that is what they asked for. Then, Apple introduced the iPod. Consumers hadn't asked for an iPod but all of a sudden a new product solved the issues they had with the old technology. If Apple had really listened to the consumer they would not have been an innovator, and arguably would have never solved the problem consumers really had.

So how does this philosophy relate to being a council member. The answer is simply that I must look at my job as a councilman in a similar way. It is my job to listen beyond the specifics of what residents ask for and to actually figure out what problems they need solved. Presumably I was elected by you because you had faith in my ability to do this. For example, the city is commonly asked to install speed bumps on local streets. But really what is being asked is for the city to slow down traffic. Speed bumps happen to be one way to solve this problem but there are many other more effective solutions that most folks don't even know of. And arguably the most effective and innovative of those ideas probably hasn't even been thought of. Leadership is about finding opportunity (eg. problems) and determining the best course of action to solve those problems. Sometimes this approach requires change, uncertainty, and risk. These of course are all things we as a society are generally trained to be averse to.

Thoughts on Public Involvement

At last nights candidate forum a recurring theme centered around public involvement in city business. Several candidates have taken the position that the city council has been lax in encouraging public involvement. On the surface I might find it easy to agree with their position since most city council meetings are only attended by a group of 5-10 regulars. These regulars are occasionally referred to as "season ticket holders", because much like like dedicated sports fans, they are very vocal about who or what they are rooting for and don't like to miss an inning. And just like die-hard football fans, the season ticket holders don't understand why you don't want to come watch the game. But ahh, they are missing one key thing. I believe you are watching the game, and just like with football, it's usually better viewed from the comfort of your own home.

I am continually impressed with my interactions with residents, whether at the store, the park, or on a walk with my kids. Not surprisingly most people I talk to rarely, if ever, attend council meetings. Yet most folks always seem to be generally informed about what is happening around city hall. If the public were truly disengaged or if the city were completely dropping the ball this wouldn't be the case. The networks most people have for information gathering are as diverse and complex as the city itself. The newspaper, email, the internet and neighbors talking to neighbors are all very common and effective ways information travels through the population.

It is through these channels that occasionally an issue circulates resulting in a meeting with phenomenal turnout, sometimes with 50-100 people crammed into city hall. The city advertises these meetings no differently than the ones with only the season ticket holders in the audience. So if the level information provided by the city is the same what causes such a large turnout. I believe it is because most people, while generally informed about the issues, need to have an understanding of how an issue relates to them before they feel empowered to voice an opinion. For example, when i was on the planning commission we were considering changes to the city parking ordinance. We had more than 100 people show up to a meeting to give their opinion on the issue. Not because we communicated the issue any differently to the public but because most people can relate to their cars and understand how changes to those rules might impact their daily lives.

In conclusion, public involvement at times can seem bleak, especially if you are one of 5 same people at every council meeting. It is a good part of why I have chosen to keep up this website. It is my effort to find a way of making more than just parking relateable to the general population.