This essay began this life on the digital page in response to a recent social media post. But the genesis was in March and April, during the run up to the most recent city elections.
That election turned out to be a referendum on the Envision Taylor Comprehensive Plan, with bike lanes and infill development front and center. The incumbent in one race doubled down on his support. His challenger spent thousands of dollars bashing it. In public, she said she was “familiar” with the plan but was dismissive of the process.
Throughout the campaign, misinformation about the comp plan spread across our local Facebook pages, and into some campaign literature. Various factions used the opportunity to deliberately misrepresent it.
Among the many misrepresentations was one that concerned the process: the city conducted the workshops at inconvenient times and did a poor job of marketing. As a result, too few people participated.
As one who invested months into that project, I found that more than a little insulting. I still do.
While I agree that more people could have participated, one should remember that voter turnout for municipal elections is also pretty poor. Perhaps there’s a correlation.
This position shows a stunning lack of respect for the hard work that citizens of our community put into the new plan, one that was “Taylor Made” and would protect the cultural and historic nature of this town.
That was our charge, and we took it seriously.
Meetings were held over Zoom and in person; in the afternoon, early evening and weekends, beginning as soon as the ‘Rona let up a bit and for the following 18 months or so. It’s true that most had 100, or fewer, people in attendance but more than one or two were standing room only.
The schedules were posted in the expected places and on the appropriate platforms: the paper, the city newsletter, on its website and on all the city social media. The meetings were streamed live on Facebook and the city’s website.
I understand that the sessions were inconvenient for a lot of folks. People will always have more important things to do … like work or care giving or whatever. And I’m not mocking that — those are important things and often cannot be deferred.
I can take the time to attend meetings like this. I’m semi-retired, and given that I’ve followed municipal government professionally for decades, I was motivated. Plus, I’m a public policy nerd.
But, if you didn’t know about the meetings, it’s because you weren’t paying attention. If you couldn’t find the time to attend, whatever the reason, no judgement but that’s on you.
Now, I think it’s great that more people have become more engaged. The more voices at the table, the more likely more people will buy into the results. I hope they stay engaged, but I wonder and here’s why: The same 150-200 citizens show up to virtually every city function I’ve attended over the last 10 years.
It’s the folks from that pool of around 200 people who show up for efforts like the work of the Greater Taylor Foundation, or who spent the time to help develop the Envision Taylor Comprehensive Plan. Or a myriad of other projects undertaken for the good of the community as a whole. They don’t care about gotcha politics, or the most recent cultural outrage. They aren’t posting snarky, knee-jerk pot-shots on social media, bashing their neighbors who are just trying to serve.
No. They don’t wait around. They get things done.
Should any effort to re-write the comprehensive plan be in the works, I can’t help but wonder at how many of these newly engaged people will show up, meeting after meeting, for 12-18 months, to help modify it in a way that protects the culture and history of Taylor but also meets the fears and perceptions of a loud group of keyboard commandos who are often angry and suspicious at anything that reeks of “planning for the future.”
City planners set their course based on the voices of the people who show up, not the people who gripe — after the fact! — on social media. So, don’t wait until your neighbors have already devoted months of work to complain about the outcome. Be intentional, be part of the process. Get involved early and show up when and where it matters.
If you can’t do that, please show a little respect and accept that the resulting work was done with your neighbors’ best intentions.
Note: I replaced the original essay with the version I edited for print. It appeared in the July 7 edition of the Taylor Press.
The Ragged Edge 