Post by ajbruno14 on May 6, 2013 9:33:47 GMT -4
The following was sent to Cary's town council after I attended the Summit.
I can be reached at ajbruno14@gmail.com
Town Council, Staff,
Cary residents
I am writing to provide direct feedback on last Thursday's "Summit of Future".
First, thanks having this event as a way of getting more residents involved in the process of planning for the Cary's future.
From afar the event was picture perfect, professionally planned, organized and expertly
implemented. But, there are two things the town could have done to make it more inclusive and provide better feedback.
First, the town could have provided time between segments to allow residents to ask questions after each speaker presented. Two areas with mikes could have been placed so residents could do so. By initially stating "no questions" provided a bad signal to skeptics in attendance.
Also, after each keypad vote, some extra time should have been allotted to allow residents more time to write their thoughts on paper provided and given to table monitor for staff to review.
But, aside from these two points...the entire event was expertly run.
Now, to what made this event much less than it could have been and prevented the council and staff from actually "hearing" the voices of the residents in attendance. Unfortunately, and perhaps shamefully, this could have been the objective of what some might consider a "dog and pony" show.
It became obvious by the paid speakers, notably Chris Leinberger from Brookings, which itself drives "urbanization" and what is represents. To the folks at Brookings the current topographic landscape of Cary does not fit into its vision...and probably may not in the mind of the council as well, based on the orchestration of the event.
Even after the excellent presentation of the shift towards "urbanization", how many residents want to live in an apartment...next to "Seinfeld and Kramer" as Leinberger used to make his point?
The audience would have been better served if someone who can appreciate Cary more Leinberger, who fawns over "urbanization", using Arlington, VA as a model. As many in the audience will recall, more than once he said, "I personally do not care what you decide to do", a real crowd pleaser.
It concerns me the town council and staff may be more desirous of Brooking's view of the future rather than building on the successes which made Cary thrive thanks to past decisions of our current and previous town councils.
As the program moved forward it became obvious what was being done, use a narrow band of multiple choice answers to "guide" respondents to select from several answers, all which leaned favorably towards urbanization goals. (I can almost predict the conclusions the council and staff will reach after analyzing the results of the polling)
The statistics offered by Leigh Ann King were valuable and I hope the presentation is put online so all residents could learn what the audience did. But, without members of the audience allowed to ask question after her presentations an opportunity was lost.
After the event ended I took the occasion to speak with two speakers and one council member.
I asked Leinberger if urbanization "fit" here, and he said he did not know....and further study is being done. It appears as well informed he is on what is going on elsewhere....he was the wrong person for the audience.
I asked Don Frantz why is it a foregone conclusion that more residential housing must be built and he cited the demand of people who want to live here which I felt was a weak reply.
Rather than going blindly ahead to prepare for a 30% increase in population, which drives the demand for "economic growth" (a worn out term of the evening), the town should use its authority to limit development by keep undeveloped land for parks and green ways to serve our current population using a well recognized formula applies here and elsewhere.
One question which was curiously NOT asked, "do you want the town to approach 200,000 OR limit growth by creating more public areas". By not finding out if residents want continued unbridled development, it allows the council to go forward.....which brings us right back to "urbanization".
I told Jeff Ulmers I was disappointed with the limited numbers of choices in the multiple choices. Jeff attempted to put my mind at ease, as he did not see this as a problem, as we had the option of selecting "disagree", rather than another choice. Apparently, to Jeff not having a different choice was not a problem, as long as the choice selected was one of the desires of the council/staff.
One last thought on the 35 volunteers. If the meetings they attended were equally orchestrated it was a
waste of time for them to participate. Indoctrination is something most of us do not realize is going on, and these folks may already have cast their "vote" for urbanization.
On the whole the town council does a good job, although too often they let their ambitions wastefully spend tax dollars on projects more suitable for private development than an expanse of government.
I felt it was important to bring my concerns to you and also Bcc many Cary residents equally interested in our town future. I hope they too will provide you with feedback on what THEY want rather than what was offerred.
I can be reached at ajbruno14@gmail.com
Town Council, Staff,
Cary residents
I am writing to provide direct feedback on last Thursday's "Summit of Future".
First, thanks having this event as a way of getting more residents involved in the process of planning for the Cary's future.
From afar the event was picture perfect, professionally planned, organized and expertly
implemented. But, there are two things the town could have done to make it more inclusive and provide better feedback.
First, the town could have provided time between segments to allow residents to ask questions after each speaker presented. Two areas with mikes could have been placed so residents could do so. By initially stating "no questions" provided a bad signal to skeptics in attendance.
Also, after each keypad vote, some extra time should have been allotted to allow residents more time to write their thoughts on paper provided and given to table monitor for staff to review.
But, aside from these two points...the entire event was expertly run.
Now, to what made this event much less than it could have been and prevented the council and staff from actually "hearing" the voices of the residents in attendance. Unfortunately, and perhaps shamefully, this could have been the objective of what some might consider a "dog and pony" show.
It became obvious by the paid speakers, notably Chris Leinberger from Brookings, which itself drives "urbanization" and what is represents. To the folks at Brookings the current topographic landscape of Cary does not fit into its vision...and probably may not in the mind of the council as well, based on the orchestration of the event.
Even after the excellent presentation of the shift towards "urbanization", how many residents want to live in an apartment...next to "Seinfeld and Kramer" as Leinberger used to make his point?
The audience would have been better served if someone who can appreciate Cary more Leinberger, who fawns over "urbanization", using Arlington, VA as a model. As many in the audience will recall, more than once he said, "I personally do not care what you decide to do", a real crowd pleaser.
It concerns me the town council and staff may be more desirous of Brooking's view of the future rather than building on the successes which made Cary thrive thanks to past decisions of our current and previous town councils.
As the program moved forward it became obvious what was being done, use a narrow band of multiple choice answers to "guide" respondents to select from several answers, all which leaned favorably towards urbanization goals. (I can almost predict the conclusions the council and staff will reach after analyzing the results of the polling)
The statistics offered by Leigh Ann King were valuable and I hope the presentation is put online so all residents could learn what the audience did. But, without members of the audience allowed to ask question after her presentations an opportunity was lost.
After the event ended I took the occasion to speak with two speakers and one council member.
I asked Leinberger if urbanization "fit" here, and he said he did not know....and further study is being done. It appears as well informed he is on what is going on elsewhere....he was the wrong person for the audience.
I asked Don Frantz why is it a foregone conclusion that more residential housing must be built and he cited the demand of people who want to live here which I felt was a weak reply.
Rather than going blindly ahead to prepare for a 30% increase in population, which drives the demand for "economic growth" (a worn out term of the evening), the town should use its authority to limit development by keep undeveloped land for parks and green ways to serve our current population using a well recognized formula applies here and elsewhere.
One question which was curiously NOT asked, "do you want the town to approach 200,000 OR limit growth by creating more public areas". By not finding out if residents want continued unbridled development, it allows the council to go forward.....which brings us right back to "urbanization".
I told Jeff Ulmers I was disappointed with the limited numbers of choices in the multiple choices. Jeff attempted to put my mind at ease, as he did not see this as a problem, as we had the option of selecting "disagree", rather than another choice. Apparently, to Jeff not having a different choice was not a problem, as long as the choice selected was one of the desires of the council/staff.
One last thought on the 35 volunteers. If the meetings they attended were equally orchestrated it was a
waste of time for them to participate. Indoctrination is something most of us do not realize is going on, and these folks may already have cast their "vote" for urbanization.
On the whole the town council does a good job, although too often they let their ambitions wastefully spend tax dollars on projects more suitable for private development than an expanse of government.
I felt it was important to bring my concerns to you and also Bcc many Cary residents equally interested in our town future. I hope they too will provide you with feedback on what THEY want rather than what was offerred.