Mayor Paul Fraim has announced a series of six Town Hall meetings to be held around the city in an attempt to solict from residents input on what we think our needs are prior to the start of the budget process in January. The first of those meetings will be held tonight at the Lafayette-Winona Middle School.
I applaud the mayor for allowing the citizens to have input, something that has been sorely lacking in the 28 years I’ve lived in the city. At the minimum, we have been given the opportunity to voice our concerns. Of course, the real test of whether this is a PR stunt won’t come until we see next year’s budget, but at this point, we should at least embrace the opportunity.
The Norfolk Tea Party II announced at a meeting last month that they intend to be present at each of the scheduled meetings in an attempt to get the tax rate lowered from its current $1.27 per $100 of assessed value to $1.08. The Friends of the Norfolk Library would like some money set aside for the replacement of the aging Kirn Memorial Library, which is scheduled to be torn down and replaced with a light rail station.
Personally, I’d like to see more money set aside for neighborhoods. We have gone thru two major building booms in downtown, while the neighborhoods have been mostly ignored. Investment in neighborhoods increases the quality of life for residents and attracts new people to the city.
If you can’t make tonight’s meeting, here are the remaining ones:
- 10/18 – Ward 3 – Norview Middle School
- 10/25 – Ward 1 – Titustown Rec Center
- 11/01 – Ward 5 – Bayview Rec Center
- 11/08 – Ward 4 – Campostella Elementary School
- 11/29 – Downtown – Marriot Hotel
Registration starts at 6:30pm. The meetings are from 7-9pm and will utilize the small group format the city used 10 years ago for its “Neighbors All” meeting.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
The public transportation system is pitiful. Tidewater needs a regional solution. It would be far easier to do than the D.C. Metro system, which has two states and D.C. to deal with, in addition to the local governments.
Ah but that is not a local decision. The GA decided that we didn’t need one. And without the GA, it ain’t gonna happen here. The cities in Hampton Roads are still fighting the battle of 1963.
The “interesting” thing about these town meetings is I suspect they are using a “technique” to shape public opinion the way the city officials have decided it should do. It’s sophisticated but it’s designed to isolate anyone in the community who has a different point of view than the powers that be.
Many cities are now utilizing these techniques to “show” that they are doing what the citizens want…and yet continue with the agenda of special “elite” interests.
I BET that the mayor is going to break folks into groups and HE will choose the leaders of each group…..and then the techniques begin
So much for democracy in Norfolk….Buzz…Buzz…
Yes, they will be broken into groups (the article says that) and each group will be moderated. I’m trying to recall the “Neighbors All” meeting from 10 years ago because I know I was there, but it was so long ago that I’m surprised they dusted off that idea.
The last time I went to that sort of meeting, albeit not 10 years ago, more like 4 or 5, each of the small groups chose a leader and a “reporter” amongst ourselves. I hope that this technique has evolved from what you describe here, Mosquito. But then again, these meetings were called by the County who hired a professional facilitator to handle the logistics.
Yes, this is the new trend in public meetings. The group running it, the Mayor, the School board, whoever, has an agenda. They give their little presentation on the issue. Then everyone goes to their little groups with the facilitator. They invite people to express their concerns, express their ideas, both good and bad while the faclilitator writes it all down. The government folks post the information, both the sheets with the ideas and later online. At subsequent meetings, powers that be explain why anything other than their preset agenda won’t work. Of course the audience doesn’t know what the agenda might be. This way they can say that they had community input, even community consensus, for whatever it is that they want to do. It gives people the illusion that the government group cares about what the people think and want. They don’t. They already know how it’s going to turn out. It’s their latest PR scheme, something that has been used here for the last 5 years or so.