Comments on: City Manager Answers Your Bond Fund Questions

By: Dean

Dean — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:41:57 +0000

It would be interesting to see what would transpired if it happened today.

My guess is that if DM had existed in 2006 – the bond vote would have been a lot closer than it was.

By: smalltowngal

smalltowngal — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:38:37 +0000

You’re right, DM, but that is only the conventional model. Since we don’t have a daily paper anyway, who’s to say we couldn’t develop a communication model whereby the City took the initiative to provide timely, frank information to the citizenry, without depending on the “free press” to ferret it out? If we as a community truly value honesty, integrity, and collaboration, then that should be reflected in how our City is managed and governed, so that even news that is bad or might reflect poorly is shared candidly along with all relevant information about ‘why’, ‘how’, and ‘what next’.

BTW, while I value Decatur Metro, I don’t think you’re going to close the gap we’re talking about unless you shift to a more journalistic approach, which would (IMO) fundamentally alter what you do and what you offer. Regarding inDECATUR, I don’t know because I have not been reading it regularly. But neither do I think you SHOULD try to fill the breach. I think the City puts considerable time, energy, and resources into communicating with the populace, and I’d simply like to see it be more effective.

By: smalltowngal

smalltowngal — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:12:39 +0000

DM, you’ve illustrated my point, as far as I’m concerned. Why should it require digging through old (or current) City Commission agendas to stay reasonably informed about what’s going on? And the “Bond Fund Project Updates” section at the City website does not contain answers to any of the questions we’ve been posing. [That in itself, IMO, bolsters my case that a newly designed website will not fix all of the shortcomings in the City's communication effectiveness. But that's a different thread.] Of course the City is loathe to trumpet “We made a multimillion dollar mistake.” Nobody wants to do that. But there are ways to handle such situations without making your constituents feel that they’re the ones being “handled.”

By: Decatur Metro

Decatur Metro — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:58:11 +0000

Genius! No wonder I’ve been hearing rumblings of inexplicably changing the name of the city to “Russcatur”.

By: "Naaman" Gibbets

"Naaman" Gibbets — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:42:28 +0000

Brilliant! And, therefore, there’s no need to vote.