Comments on: They Built It, Will They Come? http://www.jaxobserver.com/2010/02/08/if-they-build-it-will-they-come/ Your Independent Alternative! Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:20:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Andiep1 http://www.jaxobserver.com/2010/02/08/if-they-build-it-will-they-come/comment-page-1/#comment-10699 Andiep1 Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:44:46 +0000 http://www.jaxobserver.com/?p=9748#comment-10699 I attended the budget workshop on Saturday morning at the Cecil Community Center and was pleasantly surprised that both the mayor and councilwoman Hipps were present. At the event each section of the proposed budget had a table for discussion facilitated by a city employee knowledgeable in that area. Each expense was listed and the table discussions ended in a vote of "Must Have", "Should Have", "Nice to Have" and "Don't Want". Much like my own personal budget there are expensive items that are not negotiable (Public Safety) and may items that ultimately end up as "Nice to Have" but will have to wait for another time when there is more money. The process was very open and informative as well as having several avenues to continue offering comments. The website suggested for information about the budget was www.myjaxbudget.com. The most promising part of the process was that these citizens cared enough to give up a Saturday morning to be a part of the solution. In my opinion, televising the event would just allow the usual troublemakers to criticize without offering any solutions – as usual. I attended the budget workshop on Saturday morning at the Cecil Community Center and was pleasantly surprised that both the mayor and councilwoman Hipps were present. At the event each section of the proposed budget had a table for discussion facilitated by a city employee knowledgeable in that area. Each expense was listed and the table discussions ended in a vote of “Must Have”, “Should Have”, “Nice to Have” and “Don’t Want”. Much like my own personal budget there are expensive items that are not negotiable (Public Safety) and may items that ultimately end up as “Nice to Have” but will have to wait for another time when there is more money. The process was very open and informative as well as having several avenues to continue offering comments. The website suggested for information about the budget was http://www.myjaxbudget.com. The most promising part of the process was that these citizens cared enough to give up a Saturday morning to be a part of the solution. In my opinion, televising the event would just allow the usual troublemakers to criticize without offering any solutions – as usual.

]]> By: Larry http://www.jaxobserver.com/2010/02/08/if-they-build-it-will-they-come/comment-page-1/#comment-8998 Larry Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:28:53 +0000 http://www.jaxobserver.com/?p=9748#comment-8998 GetReal, that's a great suggestion. I doubt if it will ever see the light of day as politicians know that knowledge is power. And the less knowledge the electorate has, the more power the pols have. Kind of makes one wonder why Peyton is just now such a strong advocate for citizen involvement in the budget process. Perhaps it's because he's outta here in another year? The budget website has virtually no useful information on it. The first thing the city needs to do, if they are truly interested in citizen participation, is to get some meaningful data on the website. And schedule a meeting in Mandarin/Baymeadows. GetReal, that’s a great suggestion. I doubt if it will ever see the light of day as politicians know that knowledge is power. And the less knowledge the electorate has, the more power the pols have.

Kind of makes one wonder why Peyton is just now such a strong advocate for citizen involvement in the budget process. Perhaps it’s because he’s outta here in another year?

The budget website has virtually no useful information on it. The first thing the city needs to do, if they are truly interested in citizen participation, is to get some meaningful data on the website.

And schedule a meeting in Mandarin/Baymeadows.

]]> By: getreal http://www.jaxobserver.com/2010/02/08/if-they-build-it-will-they-come/comment-page-1/#comment-8997 getreal Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:10:33 +0000 http://www.jaxobserver.com/?p=9748#comment-8997 The on-line info is so sketchy it really doesn't give any meaningful deatils on the budget. They need to provide some more backup, allow people to drill down on some of the categories. If they really want to get people involved why not live stream the budget meetings? Why restrict access to the process to those who can make it to the meetings in person? The on-line info is so sketchy it really doesn’t give any meaningful deatils on the budget. They need to provide some more backup, allow people to drill down on some of the categories.

If they really want to get people involved why not live stream the budget meetings? Why restrict access to the process to those who can make it to the meetings in person?

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