The New Lake Forest - Greeting and Tweeting

The Council meeting on Feb 6 will be a lot different from past Council meetings. We are trying to improve it so that the meeting is more responsive to residents, reaches more people, informs better, and makes it easier for people to participate.

Here are some of the changes we’ve instituted –

PRE-MEETING

• Live streaming. You will be able to live stream the proceedings to your device by tuning into the City of Lake Forest Facebook page (Click Here).
• How to speak. We’re creating a video to show newbies how to speak. You can view the video in advance. We will play the video at the start of each meeting. This video replaces the short speech given by the Mayor or Clerk. It won't be done by Feb 6 but we expect to have it ready by Feb 20.
• Submissions. If you want to submit a petition, proposal, pictures, or anything else, it’s probably best to do it before the meeting, because if you wait until you’re speaking it’s difficult for Council members to pay attention to your comments and read your proposal.
• “Pre show”. We’ve created a 15 minute slide show that will provide people with the latest updates on existing projects, upcoming events, and new businesses in our City.

MEETING

• Greeter. We now have someone available from 6:15 to 6:45 to meet people at the door and help them understand how the meetings are organized. This is designed for newbies.
• Visual Aides. When we are discussing specific issues, there will be a staff member available to use the CCTV system to display the items under discussion so participants can follow-along more easily.
• Prioritize order. At the start of the meeting, the City Clerk will notify the Mayor how many people want to speak on which issues, and at that point, the Council may re-order the agenda so that items of most interest occur earlier.
• IM. People will be able to watch using live streaming (see above) and then Instant Message (IM), and IMs will be treated like blue slips and given to the City Clerk. IMs can be used for Public Comment and/or specific agenda items. To start, we will be using the City of Lake Forest Facebook page (Click Here) and the Instant Messaging system. When you have a question or comment for the Council, preface your message with "QUESTION FOR THE COUNCIL" or "COMMENT FOR THE COUNCIL".
• City Manager Report. The new City Manager report will consist of updates on major budget items (e.g., Civic Center, Veterans Park, General Plan Update, Neighborhood Parks, Police Parking Update). It will be in writing and be part of the agenda package. The report will be treated like a consent item unless someone from the public or the Council has a question/comment.
• Necessity Break. The Council will adjourn for a brief 5 minute necessity break around 8 pm depending on where we are in the agenda.
• Take aways. As you leave the meeting you'll be able to take away a list of upcoming events about ribbon cuttings for businesses, Chamber of Commerce events, and general city events.

I hope these changes improve our ability to communicate and participate. None of this would have been possible without the help of Brett Channing, Jonathan Volzke, and the rest of the Management Services staff. If you have comments, feel free to share them on Lake Forest Town Square.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His twitter handle is @DrJimGardner. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a town hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be Thursday Feb 15 at 7 pm at the Beach and Tennis Club on Ridge Rte.