A Call For Community Conversations

John Marshall Lee, a frequent speaker during the City Council’s public speaking sessions, and a member of the Charter Revision Commission, asked the legislative body Monday night to engage in community conversations. “When will you join in conversation and set some dates and sites in your District?”

Fellow voters…whether on the Council and running for office in the fall….or present  tonight hearing my words….or later through  social media learning my message….there is good news in the air. The budget hearings reveal what decision makers have determined is worthy of your taxes and you are invited to hearings to approve. The City has also commissioned a Charter Review and provided three months  to work and make recommendations. Too short for a comprehensive evaluation after so many years, but there may be unexpected recommendations on which you can vote in November. More specific information, soon.

In the meantime, we listen to catastrophes and chaos daily almost everywhere .But  Casual Civic Conversations are different. A few folks gather to share civic issues and concerns, and most importantly, listen to how others respond. Some impress with unexpected sharing, unknown expertise, or unanticipated optimism and wisdom. The image that I have sent you previously shows a table with a “bridge” replica on the table. Around the table are seven chairs, three of them occupied, but four of them open and inviting. Hospitality for our community to share positive words as well as municipal concerns and to participate in the actions and oversight of municipal governance.

Board and commission volunteers have been indicated by recent Mayors as a block leading  to vacancies, lengthy expired-term services, and fewer members available to meet quorums. Welcome the residents of your district unknown to you to share wider abilities about civic governance, as well as expose them to the best thinking you have available. The bridge in the middle of the table represents the transport of ideas, concepts and stories across a divide or chasm in a  public space. In Bridgeport we can reconstruct CIVICS rapidly with action or complain about the difficulties, whether I95 or Congress Street. The Library leads the way with dates from May to December. When will you join in  conversation and set some dates and sites in your District? When can voters become better informed with municipal governance?

“Cities are engines of creativity because we create in community” according to the recent book ABUNDANCE. What do the local political party organizations encourage in terms of CIVICS education and participation? When will CIVICS, the study of citizen rights and responsibilities, become more important to all? When will you and your neighbors embrace more of the rights granted to us in self-governance? Time will tell.