[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
There is not a "quick fix" to shifting away from apathy and disconnected neighbors... we need a long-term strategy that will continue to bring MORE participation in at the neighborhood level. As the process continues to become better known, even through criticisms such as those below, more people will learn that YES, I CAN have a significant say in what happens in MY neighborhood... that is a VERY GOOD direction to take. I disagree with the suggestion that somehow handing off this decision-making to elected officials makes the process better. Let the neighbors have a say... that will lead to increased neighborhood involvement over the long-term.
Nikki Carlson Linden Hills
Well said.
All processes will have some flaws in them; as humans we simply cannot perfect something big and complicated like civic policy and governance. So should we throw the baby out with the bathwater? Just because the current process for citizen involvement tends to favor "those who show up" is an inadequate reason for getting rid of it.
Of course NRP has not been perfect, but it has done a lot of good, directly and indirectly, as others point out. Would we have been better off if all that NRP money had stayed in the MCDA or other city coffers? There is no way to prove that argument one way or the other, but if there were, I'd be willing to bet NRP has done a better job than if the decision making had been done by elected officials.
-- Chris Johnson Fulton
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