Surveys of residents continue to generate puzzling results

Residents who get emotional about keeping all of Royal Oak's 50-some parks, even the unused ones, remind me of those American pioneers who fought the railroads, often with firearms. (See Judy Davids's Patch report for a list of eight parks labeled "underused" by the City -- and for a detailed summary of the full session.)

Then there are those residents who urge saving money by terminating the city's television coverage of city events. Often these are the same citizens who complain about a lack of transparency.

Both of those thoughts came to mind as Cobalt Community Service reported its results of a survey as the first agenda item on Saturday's all-day Strategic Planning Session during which Department Heads joined Elected Officials in reporting progress re goals set in previous planning sessions.

This planning session, chaired and moderated by City Manager Don Johnson, was certainly more substantive and productive than most previous ones. Among matters addressed were:
The appropriate use and non-use of the Farmer's Market (including the wisdom of leaving a tent up during the summer months and of making better use of the current permanent booths) . . . The threat of losing federal block grant funds for Senior Centers, because current practice includes serving individuals as young as 55, not complying with Fed specs . . . Residents seem skeptical about regionalization, of combining with other municipal units re specific services . . . The importance of continuing to use mailed communication to reach a majority of seniors and  a surprisingly large minority of younger residents -- along with email, print media, Patch, and the city's website.

For the most part elected officials and the attending Department Heads were attentive, although two or three bouncing legs, always a signal of boredom, were occasionally seen. More typical were the acknowledging nods and focused questions from the elected officials.. Not a showboat in the gathering while I was there.  Remarkably involved was Mayor Jim Ellison, whose house had the day before been seriously fire-damaged.

I wasn't able to stay for the entire day, but even skeptical Bill Shaw, who has moved to Georgia and still keeps his eyes on Royal Oak, would be impressed. I share with Bill a disappointment that neither CITCOM nor the city's financial people, have said anything publicly about how the city will address its outstanding long-term deficit re employee benefits. How about a special meeting during which the complex matter is explained to laymen?