This post at Brown County Matters

Future of Tourism – CVB Presentation and Discussions – For the Record

The Flaw or Opportunity in our system of government?  Our system was designed to enable We the People (top management) to work towards “a more perfect Union.”  The founders left it up to future generations to determine how best to do this. We elect representatives and then hope they can and will do the right things in the context of the Constitution. In terms of political involvement, given a particular change, a few will love it, a few will hate it, many may care less, and the rest may be persuadable one way or the other.

 On controversial policies, some win, some lose (win/lose), and those who did not get the outcome they wanted can accept it or work to undermine and/or reverse the decision, which, if successful, starts a new cycle.

Consider a local example.   How should citizens determine the best options for investing the excess revenue from the innkeeper’s tax?  Who should decide? Is it solely the responsibility of elected and appointed officials?   What role, if any, should the citizen play?  Should a citizen even be aware of these decisions?  The revenue from the tax generates over $1.3 million a year and has indirectly become a new source of revenue for county government via the Music Center.

I drafted a System Map to help illustrate how the money is received and managed. There are likely very few people in the county who could explain the total system or maybe even care.  The supporting documentation for the system would be over 100 pages.

My point is this: We can implement a more robust process for educating citizens about the system and investment policy and provide feedback on at least an annual basis. This can lead to a more balanced outcome. While everyone may not get exactly what they want, they can confidently believe the decision-making process was as fair and objective as possible, with the expectation of future improvements.

How? The one responsibility we have as citizens is to serve as jurists. A justice/citizen is responsible for understanding the facts presented, listening to both sides of the argument, the counterarguments, and closing arguments, and then making a decision.  The decision becomes a precedent. The process includes a transcript of the proceeding and can even be streamed and made available on video (24×7).

Collaborative Decision-Making Process.  This would include a series of presentations (15-20 minutes ?) on each aspect of the “system” that can be videotaped, documented, maintained on the county website, and shared via the media via articles and posts.  This allows those involved in the system to explain their role and responsibilities and allows citizens the opportunity (at any time) to educate themselves on the system and policy. This “process” can assure citizens that we are working towards the best solutions for the county.

 The Benefit?  This would include “Community buy-in for the solution,” less time discussing one or more aspects of the process without understanding how all the pieces fit together, and recognition for the citizens taking the time to improve our county.  An optimal decision is fixing something in one area without making it worse in others – everyone benefits or, at least, is not any worse off.