I attended the City Council’s Fall 2011 Town Hall Meeting on Saturday morning. In addition to helping the Council Members answer a couple of questions (they answered most of them), I was also chief photographer. That’s my work above.
We had 15 guests in the room at the start of the event at 10am. The house expanded to 23 by 11am. Not too bad considering the weather – which was absolutely spectacular.
The purpose of a Town Hall Meeting is to provide a more intimate, informal way to access City Council Members. The Town Hall Meeting format allows residents a chance to directly address their locally elected officials on the issues of the day. It’s meant to be a friendlier format than the formality of the City Council Chambers. The Town Hall Meeting is not taped or recorded, so residents are not impacted by the presence of cameras.
I think the Town Hall Meeting format works on a couple of levels. People feel more comfortable, and when they feel more comfortable, they share their more private thoughts on both larger and smaller issues. The format also serves residents who might not otherwise have the courage to stand before the Council in the Council Chambers under the TV lights. The Council and I do that all the time, but for many residents, that setting is intimidating. The Town Hall format is simpler. It’s more “small town”.
So what did we hear? Here’s a sample:
Is the Dan Patch rail line ever going to be built? When? How much will it cost? How fast will the trains travel on the line?
Does the City receive $27,000 from the State to do traffic enforcement on Highway 100? If so, that’s not enough.
What will happen to the City’s property tax revenue if property values continue to fall?
We need to address traffic that comes off Hwy 62 on to the Gleason-Tracy corridor. (I guess that’s not really a question.)
Can the City install a sign that says “Edina School Campus” with an arrow pointing southward for drivers heading south on Tracy?
What does the City Council think of the City encouraging the creation of neighborhood associations?
Can the City address the view obstruction of the trees near the intersection of Valley View Drive and Sally Lane?
How do people stay informed about City government?
What’s going on with the Grandview Small Area Planning process?
What should people do when they observe illegal on-street parking in their neighborhood?
This is just a sample of the dialog at the Town Hall Meeting. We’re planning another one for spring 2012. I’m looking forward to it.
For years, Edina Mayor Jim Hovland and his counterparts in Bloomington and Richfield have been building bike lanes, sidewalks and trails and talking about healthy living. But that doesn’t mean people have been listening.
The desire to take the topic beyond “blah, blah, blah” prompted the mayors to ask Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota to join them in a pilot effort that they hope will become a national model.
The 18-month, public-private partnership to boost healthy living was kicked off Tuesday with the three mayors circling Normandale Lake in Bloomington behind the dancing actor featured in Blue Cross’ “do-groove” commercials.
A unique collaboration between the cities of Bloomington, Edina, Richfield and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota to improve the health of our communities.
The Edina City Council will hold a town hall meeting 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 1. The town hall meeting will be held at the Edina Senior Center, 5280 Grandview Square.
Residents are encouraged to attend to share their views about topics facing the City. The City Council strives to hold two town hall meetings per year.
As you’re blogging and emailing with your friends, please help us promote the Tour de Edina, the first ride of its kind in Edina. The 2011 route is a 5 mile loop in the Southwest corner of Edina. In the coming years, additional loops will be added in the other three quadrants of Edina to create a true Tour de Edina.
The goal of the ride is to encourage healthy lifestyles and to promote bicycling as a mode of transportation in our city.
Tour proceeds:
Tour proceeds benefit hunger relief organizations that address the needs of hungry people locally, regionally and internationally. If we raise sufficient proceeds to do so, we will also use some of the Tour de Edina proceeds to purchase and install bike racks at locations throughout Edina. We’ll have collection bins for non-perishable donations at the bike ride. Cash donations are welcome as well.
Kimberly Radel: Allina Hosiptals and Clinics
Ed Macholda: Edina Park & Rec
Tim Olson: Edina Police Department
Marsha Buchok: Edina Community Education
Carl Gulbronson: Bike Edina Task Force
Andrew Heyer: Bike Edina Task Force
Dan Atkins: website
Lisa Walker: media relations
Marty Mathis, Katherine Bass: community at large
… serves to partner with the City of Edina and various stakeholders to assist with various planning, education, providing input to designs, community affairs, and other activities. Much of the ongoing work is based on the City of Edina Comprehensive Bicycle Transportation Plan (PDF) that the initial group appointed by the City Council completed in the fall of 2007.
BETF’s mission is to support all levels of bicyclists, connect key destinations including safe routes to schools, and integrate with the Twin Cities’ regional bike network. Its vision is a progressive bicycle-friendly community where citizens can integrate cycling into their daily lives.
Note on the maps on Pages 5 and 10 of the plan that the proposed regional trail intersects the Grandview District. Also see page 52 for a paragraph about Eden Avenue.
… at Edina City Hall in the Mayor’s Conference Room on the 2nd Thursdays of each month at 8 p.m.
Contact Peter Kelley or Brad Schaeppi, Co-Chairs, for questions including upcoming agenda and to confirm time and location. We complete the meeting by 9 p.m.
The City of Edina will host an open house 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, to review proposed bikeway improvements along West 54th Street, Wooddale Avenue and Valley View Road. The open house will be held at the Edina Public Works & Park Maintenance Facility, 7450 Metro Blvd.
The proposed project is the first phase of a bicycle boulevard adjacent to the City of Minneapolis. The bike boulevard would likely incorporate permanent paving markings and signed with route markers and kiosks for bicyclists. Bike detectors might also be added to traffic signals in the area. The Edina City Council, the Edina Transportation Commission, Bike Edina Task Force and City staff have worked with Transit for Livable Communities to develop the proposal.
Earlier this month, the Edina City Council asked the Edina Park Board to form a committee to study the feasibility of an indoor athletic facility, AKA a sports dome. The Park Board formed the study committee and it has begun to meet.
So we’ve launched an Indoor Athletic Facility blog site for the process so that citizens can get better informed about the issues and engage with city officials and each other about it.
The program airs 10 a.m. Tuesdays and 6 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and covers items that have been on the agendas of the City Council, as well as its advisory boards and commissions, during the preceding month. The program is hosted by Dorothea Martti, a former CBS affiliate anchor.
The August 2011 edition of Agenda: Edina (YouTube link) is available and Edina Citizen Engagement is featured. Cable Production Assistant Steve Christiansen (left photo) interviewed City Manager Scott Neal and me last week and we each have a short blurb in the segment that runs from the 2:07 to the 3:37 mark.
Today’s StarTribune article, City officials are warned to hold their tongues, has relevance for what might eventually happen here on Edina Citizen Engagement: City Council members participating.
Recent lawsuits against vocal City Council members in Minneapolis and St. Paul are reminding elected officials around the state to be careful about speaking their minds on some decisions they’ll eventually vote on — things as small as minor planning approvals or as big as major development projects. It’s muddying the waters in civic debates where council members are often used to being able to talk freely — even feeling that taking a public position is part of their job description.
Edina’s Josh Sprague is quoted:
"The hardest part is when you’re a public official, people always want to talk about it," Edina City Council Member Josh Sprague said. Sprague said that council members regularly face an ethical dilemma about opining on issues they will later have to vote on.
Although it’s not mentioned in the article, this issue has particular relevance to the use of social media by elected officials. "Taking a public position" can not only be done face-to-face (F2F) or in print but also in a blog post, a tweet, a wall post, a webinar, or in a comment on a live chat or blog post discussion thread.
It seems to me that there’s a middle ground where concerns can be expressed in a way that conveys one is still open to learning more about the issue, to being influenced, prior to casting a vote on it.
Constituents like knowing that their elected officials have considered both sides of an issue and the shades of gray in between. So speaking to what one knows about an issue, online or off, is a way to demonstrate that. Silence may be safer but it can breed suspicion.
So for example, I can imagine a blog post in the not-so-distant future by a member of the Edina City Council in which they write something like this:
I’ve heard from several constituents who are against this XYZ proposal because… I’ve had similar concerns, as I think…
I’ve also taken the time to talk with the developer who argues that… I can understand their position as they are trying…
I try to be guided by my values of … in situations like this. Last year….
Don’t ask me how I’ll vote on this issue, but do feel free to ask me other questions and weigh in with information and opinions that you think should influence me. When all’s said and done and I’ve voted, I’ll explain my decision in more detail.
If genuine, that kind of ‘engagement’ would be appreciated by most constituents.
Residents are proud to call Edina "home." That’s the verdict from the latest quality of life survey of Edina residents by an independent research company. In the survey conducted this spring by Decision Resources, Ltd., 98 percent of respondents rated the quality of life in Edina as "excellent" or "good."
Advocates of a seasonal indoor recreational domed facility (also referred to as a ‘indoor turf field recreation facility’) made a presentation to the Edina City Council at a work session last week. The Council will discuss the issue further at next week’s Council meeting.
After the meeting, council members informally chatted with the presenters and other interested citizens who attended the meeting.
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