A few years ago, when discussing the possibility of moving Christiansburg's town elections from May to November, some council members worried about "uninformed voters" casting a ballot. These elected representatives decided to wait-and-see, but then citizens took the matter into their own hands and immediately got results. Future elections will now be held in odd-year Novembers.
If citizens are not well informed, this responsibility is largely the fault of Christiansburg leaders. There used to be a town newsletter, there's never been an organized community education and input strategy -- not for capital projects, utilizing grants, developing a viable Comprehensive Plan or Vision 2020, as regards general budget priorities or routine community meetings hosted by elected officials or town staff. Nada.
Maybe water bill inserts or email alerts would get discarded without citizens digesting their content, but you don't know as it has not been done. When an effective educational and information campaign is started, it takes a long time for people to know where to go -- and to trust the validity and neutrality of the information.
A more than passing knowledge of the Town of Christiansburg government shows sometimes elected officials are clueless and/or operating under false assumptions.
Need examples? Well, Christiansburg residents are to believe the finer details of former Town Manager's Lance Terpenny's departure weren't clear to Council. Regular employee benefits included paying out accrued and unused sick and vacation time -- plus a precedent setting severance (bonus) for his service over and above an already adequate salary he'd been receiving. The Human Resource Manager chastised Council members saying "all this information" was in the Employee Handbook and they "should have known."
And all members of Council were not aware of the numbers. No package appeared at the time of the vote showing the value of what they were granting.
Or look at the Aquatic Center, with Council clamoring for ages for a business plan or pleading to be told the real opening date. Examples of when some members of Council did get a preview into town financials brought modifications in the contract with Virginia Tech and push backs during the 60-day budget development process in 2008 and 2009 (which shifted into crisis-mode).
Another example is the failed chamber contract for tourism development -- one year after entering into this deal, some Council members were pulling back stating "We had no idea it was this much money." Really? No forecasts or estimates before voting to approve any of these deals? No hard metrics and procedures?
A puny effort to obtain citizen input was recently made on historic districts and entitlement grants. Constituents with development-industry connections seemed informed and present, yet few members of the general public were aware of these opportunities until after the fact. This is replaying this week on February's 90-day assignment to the Planning Commission regarding sidewalks and open space standards being met -- beyond the minimums allowed. A rezoning request is expected to come back to Council with the same problems it presented the first three times it appeared and may remain just so many empty promises.
Since 2000, over $750,000 in grant money has been discarded because Council wasn't informed of the opportunities this presented. Now grant money Blacksburg obtained on behalf of Christiansburg for an improved public transportation system is at risk (because it doesn't serve commuters and isn't marketed by Christiansburg).
Let's return to "Go" and shift to having informed elected representatives. This means every member gets the same information at the same time, rather than parsing things out selectively or at different times. If any one of them is dissatisfied with the information provided, table the issue. It can be that simple. Once Council feels it has all the facts, it then directs staff to educate and engage the community on any given topic or initiative.
Council is responsible for ensuring the Planning Commission and town staff are driving Christiansburg on the path they define, rather than Council sitting around like any other citizen passenger.
And the next Planning Commissioner that says "They (council) need to do as we tell them" needs to be discharged (without severance).