After attending a few City Council meetings I would like to commend our council on their decorum and desire to improve our city.
Some things that I noticed surrounding the weekly meetings are how difficult it is to gauge when the actual public rebuttal portion begins. These meetings should be at a set time every week, not randomly occurring when agendas and breaks happen to allow for it. After-all, this portion of the meetings are for the citizens, not for the council members. Please align them to begin at 6 p.m. as they were previously so that everyone who wants to attend knows the time.
Second thing I noticed was that if someone desired to speak they had to stand in line until their three minutes came around. This caused some folks to be standing in line for an hour plus in the last council meeting that I attended. Please assign the back or front one or two rows of seating for those wishing to express themselves. This way they could sit comfortably until their time came around.
Lastly, many of us who are dedicated to making Chattanooga a better place to live, commute by walking and cycling. Why are there no bike racks in front of the building? Last time I was there 10+ bicycles had to be locked to the fence surrounding the building. Please install bike racks in a well lit area.
I would love to see more engagement from our citizenry, not less due to citizens being unnecessarily inconvenienced.
John Mathna
* * *
I wanted to take a moment to express my agreement with your recent remarks about the city's decision-making process. I believe that the current setup limits the citizens appearing and is on purpose. It is also clear that some officials are more interested in showcasing their own egos than in hearing from the citizens they were elected to serve.
Per their very own mission statement, communication and hearing from constituents should be a top priority. Unfortunately, my own attempts to reach out via email have gone unanswered on multiple occasions. This lack of responsiveness is not only frustrating, but it also undermines the mission statement of our city.
I understand that running a city can be a challenging and complex task, but I strongly believe that a more open and transparent decision-making process would benefit everyone involved. I urge them to consider these concerns and take steps towards improving communication with the public.
Christopher Cooper