public forum format

[mandchurley]

Bill, members of the TSC and AGS,

      I speak for over half of the members of the AGS when I say that just before the release of the TSC draft on Friday, there was a flurry of email concerning the public forum format.  There was a proposal from the Network of Friends Groups.   Many members of the AGS suggested that the proposed format:   presentation of the recommendations, and table discussions "facilitated" and "related by a scribe" was not the best way to have the voices of the people present heard by everyone.  It was also suggested there should be a way to offer the alternative ideas that still exist  within the TSC and the AGS but are not presented in the draft of recommendations or are not written in a way that the intent is clear.  Yet MODR and the TSC stuck with the format and announced it in the materials released Friday.

 

      There were valuable ideas presented in those emails for how to conduct the meetings in better ways to be sure that those attending the meeting could hear and share everything that was said.  There has already been another email this morning suggesting ways to conduct a public forum that is fair to everyone..

 

      It is "ironic" that we are already "at odds" on how to obtain public input.  The TSC draft executive summary states that: 

 

There is a

need for open, transparent, authentic and broad based public participation in decision making ...

The recommendations call for implementation of best practices for public participation...

    Many people have had experience in the round table discussions format where their opinions were "conveyed by a scribe" only to find that the intent of the opinion was lost in translation, or worse yet, was not included when "opinions were reported out".  A public meeting where each person who cares to make a comment is heard by the entire audience, the leaders of the session and any media present, is, in the opnion of many, the most authentic and transparent way to hear what the public says.  We don't know what is meant by "best practices for public participation", or who has decided what they are, but we believe that if you are sincere about hearing the voices of everyone present, you should allow them to speak as individuals.    Claudia Hurley