Government Accessibility

By Kenneth Allen Fitzgerald

We must become more creative in our efforts to involve more citizens in the decision making process that effects the operation of Placentia

Information on agenda items before City Council are not easy to get and little reaction time is given to citizens because of the current procedure allowing access to City Council agendas prior to Council action. All too often, important issues are voted on by the Council before citizens even know what has happened.

Individuals and neighborhood groups with problems find themselves going through the arduous task of complaining over and over again before they receive the attention they need.

It is time that we modernize our city government to meet the needs of todays society. We have the technology and I believe the means to do just that.

With the use of Placentia's current web site, we can allow citizens to know, well in advance, what will be on City Council agendas. Using the same community television programing that currently brings our City Council meetings into our homes, we can produce a segment that pre-empts these Council meetings and informs citizens on issues that will be discussed. Using both systems we can better educate citizens to the workings of our particular city government. We can make it easier for citizens to understand the programs available to them and the process they need to follow in order to participate. Many residents of Placentia do not even know that the City Council meetings are televised or that there is a Web site for Placentia. Some programs such as the Volunteen Program that gives scholarships to Teens who participate in a specified area of city government, for a specified period of time, are also not known to exist by many of the residents of Placentia. In the case of the Volunteen Program, which uses public funds, its' existance is only advertized through word-of-mouth.

Council members should offer their time to speak to government classes in our schools. I recently met a young lady at one of our city council meetings. She was there to fulfill a class requirement and had no understanding of how city government worked. As we discussed what she would be witnessing once the meeting started, I could see the interest growing. I believe she was surprised at the impact this level of government had on our lives.

As a City Council member, we need to encourage better communication between departments that engage in city services. Individuals within these departments, find themselves in some segment of our neighborhoods and other parts of our city on a daily basis. Their communication with one another, and with the support of the City Council, would allow them to respond more quickly to problems and potentially eleminate many of the difficulties facing citizens trying to get problems corrected. In too many cases, problems should have been taken care of long before the need for citizen intervention.

I believe the job of the City Council must include their availability to participate on all levels of citizen interaction. Their eyes and ears should be open to everything that effects the community. Not one citizen should feel that they are not being considered. Not one area of the city should be ignored. In an effort to promote this concept, I would like to see the City Council move its' meetings to different locations. I believe this action would promote more participation and interest in our government.

We are a small but beautifully unique city and what takes place in any part of this city will eventually effect us all. We must remember that and work to create a united effort in our search for answers to the needs of Placentia, both now and in the future.