I have heard citizens of the Town of Christiansburg say, more than a few times, that they don’t like paying double taxes. A lot of people perceive that they are paying double taxes simply because they live in a Town and have to pay both County and Town taxes. Read the rest of this entry »
As usual, I showed up for the Closed Session that preceded the last Christiansburg Town Council Meeting on Sept. 6, 2011. Based upon what I had read in the agenda, I made some assumptions that the determination of the new Christiansburg Town Manager would be made. Read the rest of this entry »
If you haven’t taken the time to look at the Town of Christiansburg website, you should. The website has grown tremendously over the last year. Citizens can now easily find out about so many things: Read the rest of this entry »
Yeah, I know. I’ve heard the line before “but we’ve always done it this way.” That doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the right way, just the familiar and comfortable way to do something. Case in point, 2011-2012 CIP Christiansburg, VA. Planning Director Wingfield believes there is a difference between a capital improvement plan and a capital improvement program. Well, no difference exists for those in the Virginia State Codes and if you do a google search for Capital Improvement Plan Virginia, you will get a lot of links to capital improvement programs. If you go to Wikipedia and look up Capital Improvement Plan (which uses Plan and Project interchangeably) you find this definition: Read the rest of this entry »
At the 7/5/11 Christiansburg Town Council Meeting one of the topics discussed at the end of the meeting was concerning whether interviews for the position of Town Manager should be held as open meetings. No definitive decision was made yet, but will be made in the next few days as interviews have been set up for the 18th and 19th. The top five (5) individuals are interviewing for the position of the more than 70 applicants. As much of a proponent of open government as I am, this is one case where I feel open meetings would likely have a negative effect. Read the rest of this entry »
The Community Planner is a quarterly journal on Planning. What makes it unique is that it is written to provide information to citizens as well as professionals. It is produced on a CD rather than in print because along with the 60 or so pages of each journal, there are also additional features added. For instance, in the article I wrote for the just released Volume I Issue 3, I refer to several tools that can help people understand the Freedom of Information Act and several sources of on-line information that citizens can find useful for determining what documents they need to request. Attached to the article, via links, are 3 pdf files which have a list of websites where you can find information on each state’s Freedom of Information Act, Retention Schedules for documents, and websites for each state’s auditor/Auditor of Public Accounts. Read the rest of this entry »
There have been several meetings concerning the budget for the Town Christiansburg. While seeming to be a negotiation process, there remains certain issues on which the Town Council appears to be split. (Hope the Mayor has his “tie-breaker” out and ready. Are you ready for a repeat of last year’s budget woes? Read the rest of this entry »
(Video of Planning Commission FOIA and Conflict of Interest Meeting available now.) I made another FOIA request the other day and am now working on setting up what I received in a format that citizens can use. It is a database of CUPs (Conditional Use Permits) for the Town of Christiansburg. It is taking a bit of time because I am comparing it to a list of CUPs I received earlier to make sure I haven’t missed anything, and to set it up in a spreadsheet (pdf) format so that you can look at all of the CUPs in a specific area, by year, or by applicant. This was not an original idea on my part. Read the rest of this entry »
Whether you are a planning professional, an elected or appointed official, or a citizen who wants to have more information and be an active participant in your government, The Community Planner has something to offer you. It is provided on a CD-Rom so there is plenty of room for templates, worksheets, and examples. These articles are written in plain text and definitions/explanations are provided. A variety of formats are used including document files, spreadsheets, and presentations so that you can simply adapt the samples for your own use. Links are provided to a wide range of websites where additional information can be obtained including, but not limited to, how different different jurisdiction’s laws affect the process. By using your imagination, I feel sure that you can find many ways to use these tools beyond just Planning. Read the rest of this entry »
Consider this a public service announcement:
Virginia Coalition for Open Government holds FOIA workshops in Roanoke!
I have been reading documents related to government (particularly those subject to FOIA) for some time now. Without realizing it, I was staring at what might well be the biggest problem with such documents and true transparency. Quite simply it is the way documents are written. They are written in a way that does not serve to educate and empower citizens. Read the rest of this entry »
New River News A Tale of Two Burgs New River Journal Blog Washington Post: The Answer Sheet (Education) Roanoke Times Round Table Blog
