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Saturday, March 24, 2012

Problems and Solutions to the issues we face in Hickory area in 2012 - We Want Your Input!!!

We asked these questions before over 3 1/2 years ago in October 2008. Many times, we have seen interesting comments in the comment section of the posts or received e-mails that seem to come from people in the know. I know that many times people are fearful of leaving a correspondence for fear of being figured out and the assumed retaliation that would come along with such communications. Well, I feel like much of that fear is unfounded, especially when their is no way to expressly know who left the message. These communications leave you in a position of power and allow you to get your message out and if someone does start taking actions without a valid reason it is they who will feel the wrath not you. And besides I really do feel communication on the issues is an important way to solve our area's issues.

Let's talk about the problems people see with our city, county, and metro area. Talk about anything and everything that you feel effects the area. I doesn't matter who you are or your connection to the area, I would like input from local businessmen, government officials, and regular citizens about the issues they are facing on the local level and see if they have any ideas about how those issues might be addressed and resolved. Let's get it all out in the open.

Once again I am asking you to participate in this forum. When the forum started we had more participation in the comments section. I know many people want to leave comments, but they don't want any back and forth discussion and I do find that to be a shame. I don't really understand that, since you can see that I along with others stick our neck out and are committed to this forum. I truly think that getting all of this stuff out in the open will 1) Be therapeutic, 2)Let everyone know where everyone is coming from, 3)Give us all a better understanding of how this area operates both publicly and privately, and 4) Help us think of real solutions to addressing the needs of this great community -- you can talk about problems and solutions in the comments section below.

If there is any information you feel might compromise your anonymity, there are ways that these issues can be addressed without doing so. You can e-mail me and we can anonymously work together to address specific issues without compromising your anonymity.

I am going to archive "Problems and Solutions" at the right under the Blog Archives on this page. I truly believe that doing this will help our city mature, grow, and prosper; fulfilling the potential that we all know that we are capable of. And if you don't participate, you can't say we haven't tried. It is on you!

Thank You,

Let's Get Started

2 comments:

Boats said...

Having grown up in Hickory,then lived out of state for 32 years and moved back 3 years ago, I am apalled at lack of citizen involvement with City of Hickory governance. All politics is local.I am very disappointed in the council's approval of the "Tent" for the Farmer's Market. Aren't we, now, the citizens of Hickory providing the Pop-Up tents for Farmer's Market Vendors/ I assume the cost of the Pop-Ups are built in to the Vendors fees. Why in the world is the City spending $285,000.00 to erect this tent structure which will only be used for approximately 20 week days per year?Next question, who is constructing it and how much will annual maintenance be? In my view, the City Council has many questions to answer regarding this project

Unknown said...

Don't reinvent the wheel. Follow Charlotte or Greenville's models. Though they are not perfect they focus on many aspects including having a vibrant downtown for young professionals, pedestrian connectivity, bond referendums, self taxing districts, city staff focusing on business development. These are sometimes seen as liberal or progressive but time and time again they work on a local level. We have not done any of these and the result is an aging demographic and stagnant work force with one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. If "boats" doesn't like it ask a council member to be put on a board so your views and opinions will be heard. I am sure they will be acceptable to more constructive citizen input.