Jennifer Armstrong on
Public Participation in big.small.all.
October 20, 2006
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“big. small. all.” is a big claim for a county visioning
process, and one that we knew would be challenging to
live up to.
When we originally chose this name for the visioning
process for Champaign County, we wanted something that
would embrace downtown development as well as growth in
smaller communities; a process that would engage our
farming community, as well as our artists; a name that
said, “Big or small, black or white, farmer or urbanite
– we want your ideas. And we want all of your ideas –
the big ones and small ones.”
This seemed to resonate with people. From that initial
push, we netted almost 1000 attendees to eleven meetings
held throughout the County and 2,222 ideas for Champaign
County. The process progressed with committees set up by
topical area – sorting and combining similar ideas into
the current plan draft. Over the six months that these
groups met, attendance and participation has slowed a
bit, as is to be expected in any process made up solely
of citizen volunteers. Nevertheless, these volunteers
stayed true to the original 2,222 ideas.
So, in that way, we wholeheartedly agree with some
recent concerns about involvement in the big. small.
all. initiative: The big. small. all. process is not
perfect. It can’t be. Largely because people and lives
are not perfect. Perfect attendance at planning meetings
is not possible – a volunteer might have a sick child,
crops to harvest, a performance to give or may have to
terminate their commitment to the committee for any
number of reasons.
The point is, we need participation for big. small. all.
to work. big. small. all. is an open process, where
everyone’s ideas are equal. A University Chancellor or
Village President gets no more of a vote than a small
business owner or a kindergarten teacher. But people
must make the time to participate in order for the
process to function at all.
There is a misconception among some that the process is
complete; that big. small. all. is not accepting new
ideas. This is completely wrong. big. small. all. is
hosting what we hope will be a huge community gathering
on October 25 from 8:30 to Noon where we are asking
community members to come forward in large numbers and
review ideas that have been already submitted, as well
as present any new ideas. A continental breakfast will
be served and though we prefer an RSVP for planning
purposes, no one will be turned away.
We hope attendance at the Community Workshop will be
high. We hope to feel the level of excitement we felt in
some of the initial big. small. all. meetings about the
potential, talent and drive we have right here in
Champaign County.
We would especially like to hear from populations who we
haven’t heard a lot from so far: our minority
populations, small business owners, large land
developers, young professionals and the like.
There’s only one thing that will ensure that this
visioning process is inclusive and fair and that’s for
YOU to attend on October 25th. I would urge you not to
assume that your co-worker, peer, friend or neighbor
will be there to represent your interests. Please
consider making time to attend this very important big.
small. all. community gathering on October 25th.
Interested individuals can RSVP at www.bigsmallall.cc or
by phoning 328.3313. |
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