Township Meeting Attendance

[Jay T.]

I had a general question. I'd like to increase public attendance at the township meetings and get more feedback from residents at the meetings.

Last night we had some people attending for the Swine Flu, but not as many as I would have thought. The same for the traffic meeting. Therefore, I am looking for ideas and thoughts people may have on ways to get more residents interested in coming out and attending. I can't promise that the ideas can all be implemented as there may be legal or other restraints, but if you have an idea can you please share it?

Thanks.

Jay

[neighbor]

Jay - as many of us have small children, work full time, etc it is difficult for us to attend. Anyone consider weekend meetings or asking a Girl Scout or Boy Scout troop to provide babysitting & homework help for an hour or so?

I regret missing the traffic meeting, but just couldn't swing it with my kids at night.

[Guest]

If half the people who complain on here would attend a meeting instead of just sitting in front of their computers complaining, there would be a better turnout at the meetings.
Get involved and stop waiting for other people to do things and come out and voice your opinion.

[my view]

Unless the issue is important to the residents (e.g. building a new library), I doubt that the attendance will have more than 15 residents (just a guess) per meeting.

In the age of Internet, the TC can use email or filling out the feedback forms on the township website to get feedback from the residents. Of cause, people have to provide their real name, address, and phone number (maybe a township issued ID on their property tax form) to be accepted as a valid source of info.

[Jay T.]

[Guest]

Jay,

Excellent question. I've wondered the same. Clearly people are concerned about, or not concerned about, different issues. But I'd have expected higher turnout for the traffic discussion and H1N1 briefing.

I don't think it's apathy, but a matter of convenience/logistics for some (e.g., kids' bedtime, etc.).

I know it makes meeting management a bit more difficult, but I wonder if offering an opportunity for public comment at the beginning of the meeting is a viable option. I sit on a state committee that allows for public comment at the beginning and end of open session.

Brian S.

[Dan Mulligan]

We are all very busy however here are some ideas for encouraging people to attend meetings or at the very least allow everyone to communicate better here in town…

1. Have one meeting a month or every other month on a trial basis on a weekend.

2. Experiment with later start times? Possibly have one meeting each month at the standard 7:00 PM start and the other at 8:00 PM and then take a count to see if it makes a difference in attendance.

3. Make the meetings more available to the public. Many towns via their agreements with the cable company’s at no charge show their town meetings on local cable access channels. Comcast might even add it to the on demand section if we asked. Another idea would be to see if students from the higher grades in our K-8, from the high school or just volunteers in town would be interested in taking digital video of the meetings which could then several days later be streamed from the township web site. The key here would be to have volunteers who are willing to do this. I believe this could be done at little or no cost as well. I also believe that by making the meetings more available people will then become more engaged in the process and may actually come to the meetings more often to voice their concerns. Further by having the TC meetings and possibly other meetings available to be viewed it would then allow a cross section of board members to see what is actually happening which would help with board to board communication. As a thought just imagine what would happen if the school board members could view the TC meetings on demand and the TC could view the school board meetings. Or if the TC were able to view the planning board meetings as well on demand either via the web or cable TV.

My thought is worst case you try some of these ideas for 6 months and if we don’t see a change then you can at least say you tried. However if one or two of the ideas seem to work then the same model can be replicated for other board meetings as well which in the end could help for better overall communication in our town.

[Guest]

Dan - I think you have some good ideas - 7:00 is sometimes too early - some spouses are not yet home, homework is still being done, then bedtime. I also agree with Brian S. about having the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting.

One thing I would like to see changed is to have the public comment during the first reading of any ordinances/resolutions, instead of during the second. While the TC lets the public have their say, the decision is obviously made before any of the public speaks. It is patronizing to have the public speak and the TC vote on an ordinance the same night - there is no time to look into or think about the public's opinion. Maybe that's why nobody comes - they think the TC doesn't listen anyway so what's the point.

[Dan Mulligan]

Great point on the public comment being during the first reading. This is something that should be considered to be changed. To me its a common sense idea.

Brian's idea is excellent as well. In fact why not have comment at the beginning and the end of the meeting. That way it accommodates all of the residents needs and gives everyone a chance to voice their concerns.

Because if the TC wants participation then it needs to consider new ways such as the ones we are all suggesting. As we live in 2009 not 1909.

[TFromer]

Hey... How about we move into the 21st century and have the Town Council purchase a program that will automatically send an e-mail alert out with the agenda and timing for the meetings.

I.E. = I would have been there had I known about it.

The easiest way to build the list would be to enlist the Cranbury Lions, The Cranbury Mother's Club, The Library, etc. to send out a blast requesting that residents submit their e-mail address if they want to be notified by the Township with regard to meetings, etc. We could also have a widget added to this site so people can send it around.

The responses would be automated by simply clicking a link and bang... everyone knows what's up.

Truth be told, if people can throw parties with 150 guests through eVite... the township should be able to improve attendance at the meetings.

Also, I don't think this site has enough consistent visitors to fill Teddy's, forget about Town Hall. An outbound solution seems like a good bet. I am pretty certain you can enlist any number of geeks in Cranbury for free tech advice. Jeez, I meet at least two to three nerds every time I go to a cocktail party in this town, so human capital won't be a problem.

Just my two cents....

[Guest]

[Homer]

How about hot chicks and cold beer... And maybe some pigs in a blanket?

Or perhaps a series of indepth reports from various township sub-committees organized into a calendar of events posted months in advance and included in the Township newsletter?

[Homer]

How about hot chicks and cold beer... And maybe some pigs in a blanket?

Or perhaps a series of indepth reports from various township sub-committees organized into a calendar of events posted months in advance and included in the Township newsletter?

[JD]

[GK]

Jay's initial post raised two issues, which are to a degree mutually exclusive:

First: "I'd like to increase public attendance at the township meetings"

I personally don't think low public attendance at TC meetings means there is an issue. After all, residents elect TC members to manage the township on their behalf. That not many members of the public show up at the meetings might simply suggest democracy in action vs. resident apathy. Should the TC start to make some bad decisions, or should some truly meaty topics land on its agenda (i.e., COAH, schools consolidation or new library), you'll naturally see more people at the meetings.

Second: "...and get more feedback from residents at the meetings"

This is a valid point. I think there have been some very good suggestions in this thread whereby some fairly minor adjustments could make it easier for the public to participate. I might add that, on matters where the TC is really eager to get resident feedback, it may consider some informal caucus-type events outside of the TC meeting structure. Perhaps an occasional Saturday morning gathering (with donuts and coffee, of course) focused on a particular issue? Not only might this allow a different cross-section of residents to participate, but it might also address the reality that not everyone is totally comfortable sharing their personal thoughts in an open forum such as a TC meeting.

I would also like to suggest the TC consider the difference between collecting feedback on issues and advising citizens on important topics (such as H1N1, crime issues, etc.). For such one-directional but important broadcasts, the TC may wish to employ various media (streaming video, web conference, etc.) to maximize the number of people who can tune in from their homes, even if asynchronously.

Finally, this thread also seems to point out a painful truth: there's just no independent media coverage of Cranbury. We're too small to get Star-Ledger/Times of Trenton coverage, and the Cranbury Press never reports on the actual meetings of the TC and its various feeder committees. Instead, The Press only reports on the meta-issues, and even then without a lot of substance. What's left is a bit of a vacuum.

[Jay T.]

There are a number of very good ideas and issues raised. I really appreciate the feedback.

In terms of attendance, it was not meant to suggest that the residents are uninterested or apathetic. Rather, it is the exact opposite, we have a lot of interested residents who have good ideas or concerns. Trust me, I have heard a lot of good comments just in the last week and I think that is just a small sampling. That is why I was looking for input on ways to increase the attendance in order to encourage people to bring forth ideas and comments.