Ward 2 Open House (#W20H) Part 2

This past week 25 residents joined myself, MLA Dave Quest and rural Councillor Linton Delainey in a discussion about communication with your local government. Our facilitator was local businessman Randy Moore (@moorerandy)  who led a very interesting dialogue on How should elected officials connect with you? (Residents comments in previous post.)

The next question Randy put to the group was:

Do You Feel You Are Being Heard?

A resident noted with concern that there is the large group of citizens who don’t attend political events even when municipal governance affects them closely. There are obviously lots of reasons for this. Some people actually do have a feeling of benign indifference. Some do not think that one person can make a difference. Others feel lost in the system. Residents often don’t realize that if they have an issue – many more have the same concern.

Many residents just do not think they are being listened to: Several residents listed issues with different Strathcona County Departments: ‘they don’t return calls; I cannot get to the right department - they refer you on…and on… and on (to other numbers); why do we get defensive remarks instead of answers?; Why do I get form letters to several calls and e mails that I sent – are there no real people there?’

Residents were asked: have they ever called an elected official and how would they guage the response. There were diverse answers to this. Some said ‘my Councillor never did return my calls’. Others said the provincial level sent form letters; the federal level never did call back. Others indicated that they thought politicians of all levels of government in Strathcona County were, on the whole, more responsive than politicians in other municipalities. A variety of experiences and encounters were outlined. These diverse stories could mean that all levels of government need a more consistent and higher standard of customer service. It could mean that residents need to be clear in their requests, keep records and demand accountability. It’s probably a little of both!

Well I think it’s pretty clear that some residents are feeling like they are not being heard. I believe governments at all levels can do a better job at acknowledging residents and responding to their issues.

In the next and final blog of the series on residents talking about communication (and how we can do it better) – I will tell you what solutions our residents came up with.

Come back on March 29 to read their comments!