One year ago, on April Fool's Day, the Christiansburg Town Council was scheduled to have a meeting and this proposed agenda was offered in the spirit of the day:
Proposed Agenda:
* Resolution to provide ample notice, in time and means, of all public meetings, confirming town's commitment for following the letter, intent and spirit of open government and the Freedom of Information Act;
* Introduction of town's newly expanded web site with links to past and proposed budgets, listing of all public meeting dates with agendas and minutes, complete staff and council directory, all chapters of the town's zoning ordinances, interactive citizen satisfaction and input surveys, with online payment capabilities;
* Consideration of a new organizational plan to support the acceptance, further identification and administration of federal, state and private foundation grants;
* Designation of 2% of revenues (recaptured from grants and other operating efficiencies), to be used for town Economic and Tourism development initiatives which generate funds for extensive park system and town greenways linked to regional greenway system;
* Introduce redeveloped Comprehensive Plan that solicited and engaged all sectors of the community.
One year later, on April Fool's Day, Christiansburg government is a little more open with public meeting notices or agendas being sent out timely. No more general notices hidden behind palm trees on a landing. Members of the public attending meetings will find that copies of related materials are being made available.
Less than one year later, a revamped town website was launched and it is expected that as time moves on the content and readership will continue to expand. In the proposed 2009-2010 budget, there is an IT Technician position included, further supporting such hopes. Updating (recodifying) a grossly outdated Town Code is in the planning stages. There may be capability and plans to utilize this tool to conduct citizen surveys or accept online payments at some point in the future, as well.
While no obvious organizational changes have occurred, some are in the works as demonstrated by the current search for a combined Treasurer/Finance Director position. The Police Department dedicates staff to identifying and applying for numerous grants, many which have been awarded. Council's Street Committee recently announced it had been researching grants that may help develop or extend public pathways in certain portions of the town, and having the Huckleberry Trail extended beyond the auto-only mall is closer to being a possibility today than it was one year ago.
Less of the 1% lodging tax is being dedicated to tourism development than one year ago, and the town's administration is said to lack the personnel, plans or expertise needed to leverage significant economic development in a focused and aligned manner. The Comprehensive Plan remains largely a collection of concepts and idle initiatives that is referenced when convenient and otherwise ignored. It will probably be dusted off by the time the next mandated review is due, and citizen education and input would take at least a year to do effectively.
In the meantime, citizens can be pleased there was positive progress made in many areas over the past 365 days. No fooling! This also includes having a referendum placed on the November ballot through citizen lead efforts. This will provide town voters the opportunity of determining whether elected officials are chosen during lightly attended May elections, or in November when voter turn-out is traditionally stronger.
So Happy April Fool's Day, but don't be fooled. There's still plenty of areas that can still use some improvement. This means that April shouldn't be fooled, or May or June, or Mary or Shirley. Or Tom, Dick and Harry. Thank your town employees and officials for all their good efforts, while encouraging them to continue building on these collective successes.