Sunday, September 27, 2009
Editorial: Christiansburg's hazy vision
Town council knows what it wants done by 2020. What about citizens?
From the RoundTable blog
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Christiansburg Town Council has a vision of what the town should look like in 2020. It is a hazy vision, though, that needs to be focused through the lens of public input.
Council came up with its vision without citizen participation during a three-day retreat. It features 20 goals that council hopes will make Christiansburg "a serene community that anyone would be proud to call home."
It sounds great, but many of the particular goals are vague about their intent, implementation and feasibility. Indeed, many of them call for little more than studying issues. Surely, over a decade, the town can take action, too.
An effective long-term plan would offer not just dreams but concrete benchmarks so that citizens can see how well their officials are achieving their goals.
The council plans to, for example:
n "Update the bikeway/walkway/greenway plan." Residents would be forgiven for not knowing such a plan exists to be updated, given the lack of such infrastructure now.
n "Focus a committee to actively pursue 'Go Green' initiatives." Whatever those are. Sustainable development and environmentalism have hardly been the town's forte. Council might start with a real conversation about curbside recycling and follow it up by a close look at its development standards.
n "Install a video and sound system in the town council chambers." We hope that means digital audio and video recording equipment so the town can broadcast its meetings and post them on its Web site.
n "Develop and implement a plan to begin immediate promotion of the Aquatic Center." Residents might wonder why that plan does not exist already. Then again, after so many delays, they might count themselves lucky if the pools are even open by 2020.
n And, of course, council would do it all while "develop[ing] a balanced town budget that includes an increase in reserve funds." Many of the items will cost money and so will a reserve fund. Where would council cut? Would it raise taxes?
Had council first consulted citizens, its goals might be clearer. Officials say they will ask the public for its opinion next. They must be sure to do so with an open mind, ready to adjust the vision to reflect what the people want, not just seven council members who might not even be in office come 2020.
