OPINION: CBC’s Convention – The Place to Be Saturday
By GEORGE BROMLEY
Falls Church Times Staff
February 18, 2010
National political conventions aren’t what they used to be. The quadrennial conclaves once provided real drama and inspired plays and films, such as Gore Vidal’s The Best Man. Those of us of a certain age recall when the alphabet networks promised “gavel-to-gavel” coverage of the proceedings. Our parents’ generation often listened via radio to tumultuous conventions where nominees were selected only after several ballots.
Today the national conventions are largely staged events, their nominees chosen months earlier. Now most television coverage is limited to the evening sessions, hours which the networks surrender only grudgingly. Public interest largely has been reduced to “what will he say” or, more recently, “what will she wear?”
But ultimately, as Tip O’Neill famously observed, all politics is local. We have our own convention, right here in The Little City, and it’s less than 48 hours away. Saturday’s convention of the Citizens for a Better City will offer two things national conventions do not: a genuine contest and a chance for everyone to both participate and even vote for nominees. Although the CBC often is thought of as an elite organization, it’s actually open to anyone in Falls Church and its bi-annual convention offers residents true participatory democracy.
The convention will nominate candidates for both City Council and School Board who will represent CBC in the municipal election on May 4. Citizens concerned with the state of the City and conversant with the issues should seriously consider both attending and voting. Residents unfamiliar with the candidates or the issues will have an opportunity both to catch up on local affairs and experience democracy in action.
Convention details are available at the CBC website. Proposed rules for the session are available here. Additional background information is available in the Falls Church News Press and via this excellent primer on the six announced Council candidates.
Yesterday, School Board member Kieran Sharpe proposed a new organization he’s calling ”Renaissance Falls Church” to compete with the CBC to create a situation where “each team strengthens the other.” We think that could be a healthy development, and if indeed that organization comes to be, we would hope that it also opens its doors to the public in a similar fashion, but this weekend, the CBC convention is the place to be.
The Little City is a special place, seldom more so than on this coming Saturday afternoon. Come to George Mason High School at 2pm and see for yourself.
By George Bromley
February 18, 2010
I have tried a couple of “Town Meeting” gatherings here in Falls Church. They somehow don’t seem to have the same flavor as those I enjoyed in New England.
The New England Town Meetings are what I would really call “true participatory democracy.” Over the years I attended such meetings in Belmont, Maine, a wide place on the road near Belfast with a couple of hundred citizerns ( I was a Volunteer Fireman there); Hollis, New Hampshire, next to Nashua, with a population of about 5000 ( I was on the police force there); and Weymouth, Massachusetts, one of the largest Towns in that State.
Weymouth has a population larger than Falls Church and covers a considerably larger area. It holds representive Town Hall meetings attended by members selected by each neighborhood. ( I was the Weymouth Superintendent of Streets, the only engineer employed by the Town.)
The “Town Meeting” concept here in Falls Church seems to be for the attendees to be divided into small groups to hold short discussions about assigned subjects. Each group then comes to some sort of agreement which one member of each breakout group orally presents to the officials in attendance.
In my experience in New England, Town Hall Meeting attendees spoke directly to the elected officials (and their Staff, i.e. Police Chief etc,) about every item in the proposed Town budget (and sometimes other things that irked the Townfolks). Sometimes ths led to rather long meetings — but after being snowbound for most of the winter the spring Town Hall meeting was the first social gathering of the year! At least everybody seemed to leave feeling that they had some sort of a say in their own future tax-wise and with a better understanding of their neighbors’ values; that is my idea of “true participatory democracy.”
Lloyd, I would suggest you contact the City Manager Wyatt Shields with your suggestions of how to do the meetings better.
The CBC convention today, of course, is not a town meeting to discuss ideas. The only purpose of the convention today is to choose who will receive the CBC endorsement for the upcoming election. If you come today, you will have the opportunity to address the candidates and have your say in the form of your vote. I hope you decide to attend.
I attended the Town Hall meetings last year… there were no focus groups. They were generally structured as overview/pp presentation then open discourse with ample time for attendees to ask questions. I attended all of them. For folks that attend all the meetings offered there is some repetition of questions from first time attendees. That’s ok, it points to common themes. Council and Government folks were present too….many taking notes.
I expect the future meetings described as “Town Hall Meetings” will return to the format last year. Don’t give up on ‘em.
I’d love to see “virtual” town hall meetings sometimes too. Something where the City Council and other government folks are participating and I’m able to participate from my house (with my sleeping kids on nights my wife is working, for example).
Generally, I find the CC and City Manager very accessible via email, which is great.