Few seem to get involved when those in power are seeking feedback, but many do more than their fair share of whining after the fact. Well, there are several upcoming opportunities for civic participation regarding various issues.
On March 29, 2011 there will be a Mayor’s Town Meeting at the Hartford Public Library from 6-7:30pm. Mayor Segarra will be listening to residents’ suggestions about balancing the budget and making “City Government more efficient, more effective, and more transparent.” The Mayor will be presenting his budget to the Council on April 18, 2011, so there is enough time that it is plausible he will take residents’ concerns into account while working on the budget.
Then, on April 26th, there will be a public hearing on the budget. This will be held at the Bulkeley High School auditorium. Budget deliberations will be occurring during May, so again, there is enough time between the hearing and these deliberations for residents to believe that their input will be taken into consideration. If going to this public hearing, prepare to arrive early to sign up to speak, unless sitting through a dog and pony show engineered by various organizations is your idea of a good time.
For those interested in the restoration of Bushnell Park, there will be a workshop on March 30th from 4:30-8:30pm. This will be held at the Hartford Public Library, but is connected to the iQuilt project. The first half hour will be spent going over project updates. From 5-7:00 there will be workshops on “landscape, lighting, uses, and urban setting and culture.” The remainder of the evening will be spent in plenary session. Here are a few observations about the park now: the lighting at night is perfectly fine, but, a greater variety of vegetation (something with a more complex root structure than grass) could be introduced to prevent pooling of water in certain areas, and maintenance (emptying the fancy new trash bins, appropriate snow removal so that pedestrian commuters have at least one through-path in winter months, removing litter from pond, etc.) could be greatly improved.
Both meeting venues have off-street parking available and are on bus lines.
