This week, the Town of Outlook is hosting a public meeting that takes place this coming Thursday night at the Civic Centre.
On the schedule of events – a formal presentation on the Town’s finances and current projects & achievements, a question-and-answer period, an opportunity for those in attendance to ask questions and share comments/concerns, and finally, a ‘special announcement’ by the Town that has people buzzing and speculating.
It’s the third such public meeting to be held by the current administration of the Town of Outlook, following events held in November 2017 and January 2019. There was apparently supposed to be one at some point in 2018, but for whatever reason, it didn’t come to fruition. As well, this Thursday’s meeting was originally earmarked to happen back in April or May, but hey, what’s five or six months between friends, eh?
The previous two meetings didn’t come without their share of criticism and backlash. Following the November 2017 event, there was something of a “war of words” in the pages of our Letter to the Editor section stemming from rumors and hearsay that had been brought forward by a resident concerning the Outlook Fire Department, including a letter that was signed by a member of the current council taking the resident to task for bringing up such ‘nonsense’.
Drama in a small town, am I right?
Let’s go ahead and leave those meetings in the past where they belong. With the third one coming up on Thursday night, I thought I’d share with you hopes for the event, as well as what I hope to see following it in the immediate future.
I hope to see, first and foremost, a big turnout of people in attendance. Yes, I know life is crazier than usual these days as we apparently have to have *something* going on school-wise or sports-wise every night of the week, but listen, this is important, okay? We’re talking about what’s happening in your backyard that affects the community you call home. It goes without saying that my colleagues and I hear a lot of feedback in what’s happening; some of it good, some of it not so good, and much of it comprised of questions that don’t quite have satisfactory answers. This meeting is a chance to have your say, ask questions, and hear what’s being done with your hard-earned tax dollars.
I hope to see what I call ‘investment in action’. Do you have complaints? Do you have positive feedback to give? Do you have negative feedback to give? More importantly, do you have suggestions on how things can be better? Then I hope to see people in action, whether it’s in front of a live microphone or submitting well-written statements and/or questions. I want to see the peoples’ investment in their community put into action.
I hope to hear the names of those who can’t attend the meeting but have submitted questions to the Town. That was one of the complaints after the meeting in January, and it’s more than a fair one in my book. If John Doe can’t attend in-person but still gets his/her question addressed, why do they get to remain anonymous while those who bother to show up have to stand in front of a live mic and say who they are? Keep it fair across the board and provide the names of *all* who have questions/comments.
I hope to see something bold take place. We’re in election season, right? What if some enthusiastic resident stood up and declared that they intended to run for a council seat or the mayoral role in the 2020 municipal election? Could the spirit of ‘Canada Votes ‘19’ influence someone who wants to make a difference right here at home?
After the meeting, I hope to hear positive feedback from an audience that hopefully has the straight facts and figures behind something they may have had questions or concerns about. I’d love nothing more than to be mingling with those in the Civic Centre that night and have them tell me, “You know, I always wondered about this certain issue here or that topic there, and they really laid it out for me in a way that helped me understand.” There’s so much uncertainty in small town circles that we have a troubling tendency to believe what’s said in the proverbial sewing circles and down on Coffee Row.
I genuinely believe this meeting is something of a “make or break” moment for this town’s governing body as far as a lot of the perception that’s out there. There’s an opportunity to right some pretty big wrongs and address an elephant or two in the room, so we’ll have to wait and see if some of Outlook’s taxpayers are willing to part with their confidence again.
That, or it’s all going to boil down into a big shouting match like at a youth hockey game, and those are always entertaining!
For this week, that’s been the Ruttle Report.
