Christiansburg leaders seemed pretty proud about unveiling their Vision 2020 plan early last winter. Developed from their own perspectives during a first ever council retreat and then rolled out to the public, town staffers were subsequently brought in and assigned the task of making it happen.
One section addresses how to cultivate Effectively Engaged Citizens and goes on to state, in part: "Using a variety of means, Christiansburg leaders ensure information is available on issues that affect citizen's daily lives....Volunteers serve in many civic roles to make the Town of Christiansburg better."
If this is really Council's intent, it doesn't explain a recent issue about failed water tests.
If this is really Council's intent, it doesn't explain why so few residents were aware the town was recruiting volunteers to serve on the Planning Commission.
Viewers at the town's official web site would not find this under Employment Opportunities, although the notice indicated an official town job application was required. This means volunteers are treated as if they were job applicants during the vetting process, even though the decision ultimately rests with voting Council members (the Mayor only votes to break ties).
From the home page, viewers would need to go to the "Government" pull down tab and select "Town Council". From there, they would have to select from members, committees and planning commission tabs to get to a page providing an overview of what the Planning Commission does and who is currently serving.
If readers scrolled all the way to the bottom of this page (between August 18th and September 1st) they may have seen applications for a vacancy were being accepted and that a town job application was required for those interested in volunteering.
Readers would not be able to discern how many seats were open, why there was a vacancy (or two), or the length of time they were committing to.
Since meeting times are stated as being "As Announced" it would be difficult for potential candidates to determine if they could actually make this commitment, or know how to juggle this volunteer schedule with other activities. Certainly the Planning Commission activities have great bearing on "issues that affect the daily lives" of citizens, be it rezonings, conditional use permits, erosion and sediment regulations, open space and trail systems or historic preservation.
Did any elected official (or staff member) attend a battery of civic meetings -- Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, LWV or other like business and professional venues -- to recruit citizens? Host a town hall meet-and-greet or hold a community meeting at the library? Send a press release to the local media or an announcement to citizens who signed up for the town's web site "Notify Me" features?
Both of these serve as examples of where "a variety of means" to communicate and engage citizens was minimal, as each simply skims meeting minimum standards required of a government body.