I have been a resident of The Willows since 1998. Over the years I have attended multiple public meetings of the City Council and of different commissions when there were topics of interest, or topics where I had specific input I wanted to provide.
Most meetings are listed as ending at "reasonable" time (e.g. 8pm) but in reality many run until very late in the night. I am (still) working full time so I cannot afford to stay that late and I have had to leave meetings without providing input or listening to the input of others. Nowadays I attend through Zoom, so my departure is not even visible, except, perhaps, to the staff person administering the Zoom.
In my opinion, time management / meeting management is the single most important reason why citizens do not participate in these meetings. I do not know all the constraints imposed on scheduling the meetings and on managing the meetings themselves, but Id be happy to contribute ideas around the topic if there is interest, as the problem is real and the topics discussed at these meetings impact all of us.
Thanks for listening.
Eduardo Pelegri-Llopart
