What’s the best way to have your voice heard by the County Board? There are a number of Board-created opportunities – Public Comment Periods, Open Door Mondays, Surveys, and Town Halls come to mind. Of course, there is always the time-honored concept of “buttonholing” one of the Board members when you see them out and about in the public square. And the follow-up question seems to be, are any of these methods effective in any way? That last question is a rhetorical one, as it is difficult to really determine what type of feedback might really sway the actions of any one County Board member (much less all five). And in an era where 3 to 2 votes by the County Board are exceedingly rare, one might say that an advocate for any controversial position often faces the daunting task of convincing multiple members of the wisdom of your suggestions. So I guess my third question for you is this – is it worthwhile to show up at Public Comment or to fill out a survey? 

I bring all this up in anticipation of the upcoming Town Hall on Monday, Oct. 26, being held by the County Board. Earlier this year the Board hosted this Town Hall at the Central Library, and obviously the Board felt this was a success, such that this second event is now planned (this time located at the Bozman Government Center). Similar to Public Comment prior to regular Board meetings, “showing up” includes a virtual component – you can watch it, and even participate with your own comments online. Of course, there is always a limit on the number of speakers, so by the time you read this, the window of opportunity may have closed on you. But I would suggest that, if you have the patience, listening to all the comments can be interesting, in a number of ways (surfacing important issues, and sometimes just as a window into the passion that some folks have for certain issues). It is a messy process, it takes up a lot of time, and the process raises other questions – are the comments reflective of general public sentiment, or does one issue “over-dominate” (I put that phrase in quotes because it is a word I think I have made up). 

So let me stop with all these pesky questions, and shift to a shout-out – praising the importance of journalism in being a helpful part of this whole issue of surfacing public opinion through public comment. That is, it helps to have reporters who can summarize and synthesize for all of us the details of a public comment event. To this end, I want to give a special note of recognition for the work of Scott McCaffrey, who currently reports on Arlington civic issues for LocalNewsNow, a digital media company. Scott has four decades of reporting, editing, and newsroom experience in the local area, including 26 years as editor of the Sun Gazette newspaper chain. If you attend public events in Arlington, you likely have seen Scott, often with his trusty camera (as he also doubles as a reliable photographer of events). His profession is a difficult one – with a Town Hall, for example, a reporter has to decide which comments to write about. The task of a reporter is a tricky business – one has to be objective, and yet selective. In some ways, there is a connection to the role of a historian. When I give a talk on history, I often open with the admonition of “History is not what happened. It is the story someone tells us about what happened” (my paraphrase of a quote by historian Sally Roesch Wagner). 

With this segue to history, let me also note that Scott McCaffrey also fills the role of a historian, with numerous pieces that explore aspects of Arlington’s history. To that end, I might end this column with a public suggestion/challenge for Scott to find the answer to this question: when did the County Board first institute the concept of “public comment” at Board meetings (and what might have precipitated the reason for it)? Stay tuned for some follow-up.