As Christiansburg officials make a decision on hiring an unfunded yet suddenly necessary Public Information Officer and a year after the ballyhooed yet still underutilized new website, how do citizens stay informed?
Perhaps traditional media, perhaps by attending some public government meetings. Perhaps talking with neighbors or associates, or reading blogs (who some wish to discount or discredit).
The answer? All of the above.
So if you haven't heard or read it already, there are elections coming up in the Town of Christiansburg -- three council seats plus that of mayor. Candidates must declare soon. And everyone is getting busy.
The Planning Commission is scheduled to meet on Monday, and possibly approve (again) a monopole telecommunications tower near Cambria and Franklin (which is a commodity that will be immediately sold without the public knowing who, how much or whether 911 equipment can someday be placed here for free or with a fee to the town) which Town Council tabled previously due to a zoning variance this group missed.
Also on the agenda is the expected recommendation for requests made by Community Housing Partners -- but not another one which shared the same Joint Public Hearing date. The agenda also excludes two new assignments that are due back to Council within 90 days (one for exercising existing code to require residential sidewalks, and another to get closer to maximums legally allowed for useable open space in new subdivisions).
Also not on this agenda is a communication plan to solicit input on a very old assignment -- we're fast approaching the two year anniversary, with little to show for it -- to "prepare a report" on historic district overlays. The townhouse project in Cambria that generated this task itself remains incomplete, with only disturbed earth and eroded banks showing any signs of progress.
A survey -- paper based only -- may be found (with some digging) on the Town website for any interested party to complete. Use caution, however, as the listed pros and cons may be a bit loaded. The map being used doesn't even denote the location of the Montgomery Museum, which has long been funded by the Town and has been the keeper of all things historic for Christiansburg. This map details the three small existing historic districts, without an inventory of contributing structures.
And suddenly, without pushing for significant community participation, there's an impending deadline to complete this form within three weeks (so results are in before an unmarketed public meeting scheduled for Monday, April 5).
Council is also scheduled to trek to Richmond to meet with peers from other towns and get a bit of face time with State officials on Feb. 10-11.
Perhaps more notable is the resuscitation of a committee long inactive. How long? Well, decades really (tee shirts to prove it). Remember only the Mayor can empower appointed groups to actually meet. Former Councilman (and current candidate) Steve Huppert and other citizens worked since 2006 to get neighbor's feet and additional businesses onto new downtown pavement -- that shifted to an Events Committee in Oct. 2008 (which never formed as a non-profit organization as promised).
Now, with little communication or mention, something is now scheduled as a "Central Business District Committee" meeting for Tuesday at 5:30 pm at the Rec Center. This follows recent transitions within the local chamber and tourism development, including a decades old festival shifting to being a fund raiser for one civic group. On the agenda: process for assessing fees.
Did you know about all this? If so, how did you find out?
A cynic might say information flows where elected officials want it to go, or that all this is happening now because of the final May elections.
What matters is your opinion -- and probably your vote.