Decatur Diary | April 12, 2010
Uncle Stephen Wants You: Top 5 Reasons to Join the Round Tables
We’re now just a few days from the Decatur Next April 15th Kick Off Meeting. Our count to-date is 475 registrants from across the Decatur community, putting us just short of the five hundred who participated in 1998. Those already involved reflect a diverse mix of voices across multiple lines -- race, income, interests, household type and political inclinations, to name but a few. In short, they look a whole lot like our city overall.
If you’ve already registered to participate, thank you. But if you haven’t, consider these Top Five Reasons why you might want to reconsider...
Decatur Diary | March 29, 2010
Keeping Decatur on Track:
It’s Up to You, Plus One
Here’s what we like to hear from Decatur residents: In the latest citizens’ survey, taken in 2008, 97 percent of respondents checked the “excellent” or “good” categories when rating Decatur as a place to live, and 93 percent said their town was an “excellent” or “good” place to raise children...
Decatur Diary | March 26, 2010
A Base to Build On:
Lessons from 2000
Listen to these words from Decatur residents who were involved the last time the community set priorities for its 10-year Strategic Plan: “The precedent has been set.” “We are breaking down the walls.” “There’s no ‘they’ anymore. The ‘they’ is me.”
Better yet, take a look at this video produced a little over ten years ago, when Decatur used a series of round table meetings to gather information, then put together a new decade’s to-do list with the community’s help...
Decatur Diary | February 16, 2010
Ready for Decatur’s Next Decade?
Let’s Talk.
If we’re preparing ourselves for a community discussion about Decatur priorities over the next 10 years, we should start with the obvious questions:
What do we value most about living and working here? And what should be on our to‐do list for the next decade?
Decatur Diary | February 15, 2010
We’ll Plan and Implement.
That’s a Promise.
There’s a lot of talk these days about “a deficit of trust” in American civic life. But not in our city. Why is that?
Part of the reason may be that, over the past 30 years, under successive City administrations, Decatur elected officials and City staff have worked with residents to plan together for the future. Then, they've consistently used those plans as marching orders.
Decatur Diary | February 1, 2010
Where Do We Go From Here?
The Answer is Up to You.
Over the past ten years a lot has changed around Decatur, including our residents. We’ve seen an internet savvy generation come of age, looking for—and expecting to find—online ways to participate in city government. So in response, we’re using this 2010 Strategic Plan Update to try out something new: a dedicated and interactive website. Now, in addition to the rigorous series of in-person Round Tables that will characterize the larger effort (more on that below), we’ll also be posting information here, as it happens, for your review and discussion...