Archive: Opinions

When I used to teach theater our staff meetings often included discussions of how to get larger audiences, especially at dramas.  I am often reminded of those discussions at local municipal meetings where our elected officials hold public hearings at which few or no people show up.  There is much discussion about how to get people more involved in local government, but there rarely seems to be much traction.

The Town of Lansing used to publish a newsletter regularly, and the Village still does, though Trustees lament that it is not being widely read.  In fact Village officials instituted a Facebook page to try to reach villagers there, but with disappointing results.  The Town, School District, and Fire District post meetings on large signs by the road.  The School District and Town have expanded their Web sites and frequently update them to better provide information to the public.

I think the school district has done the most to reach out to the community, especially when major initiatives are in the works.  The superintendant has held sessions at local restaurants on important initiatives, and has attended meetings of local groups like the Lansing Lions Club.  But the results have been negligible.

The fact is that most people aren't interested in what their governments do, unless public officials do something they don't like.  Because the public isn't consistently engaged they make assumptions that may or may not be true as they crusade against whatever riled them.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Currently Lansing school officials are taking heat about not providing information two years ago about the security cameras that are now being installed.  I thought at the time that they did provide enough information, and over the past month or so have provided a great deal more information as well as opportunities for the public to weigh in.  If they didn't provide specifics they could have been asked and they would have answered.  Evidently it didn't set off many alarms in people's minds at that time.

I guess it's OK to just let the people we elect do what we elected them to do.  We have the right to not pay attention.  But I'm not sure it's fair to blame public officials for not being communicative when that happens.

Each of our taxing authorities holds regular meetings that they are required to publicize, and it doesn't take much effort to find where they are publicized when we want to attend.  Most of them maintain Web sites with contact information including telephone and email addresses.  We can just call them up or go there to get this information.  Lansing isn't that big a town -- it's not hard to do this.

The thing is, communication is a two way street.  I have been trying to think of what I would have done differently in 2009 if I were a school official to bring the various aspects of the capital project to the public's attention.  I think school officials were more creative than many public officials in reaching out before the vote.  If they were not successful they are not entirely to blame.

IN 2009 cameras were part of the story, but, frankly, only a small part of the project that meant rebuilding most of the classrooms in the high school among other things.  Cameras were certainly part of what was presented and, as I recall, school officials were willing to talk about any aspect of the project.  But few people asked.

That said, I think the public response, sans the accusations of non-communicativeness, has been really excellent on the camera issue over the past month.  It has infused some really good ideas into the policy-making process, and given district officials a chance to set the record straight on some of the things people fear will happen, but were never intended.

So if you are entirely against the use of cameras in the schools, it is a shame you didn't speak out against them two years ago.  But if you are concerned about how the cameras will be used, who has access to their output, and what impact they will have on students and teachers, now has been a great time to provide input, as the policy is being formulated.

I don't think it's terrible that this input is coming now, rather than two years ago, as long as it happens.  After all, school policies are a process that is constantly revisited by the board, the policy committee, and the public.

That speaks to the fact that governments are really better when people are paying attention.  Community members represent a tremendous resource that our taxing authorities are wise to tap.  That can only happen if people step up, as has happened in our school district over the past month.

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