They hired an out of town company called MindMixer to put up a website called GreensboroIdeas.com and suggested people work together to come up with ideas and submit Requests For Proposals.
They even went so far as to post a RFP Summary that tells us exactly what kinds of ideas they want to see:
"City Priorities for Catalytic Projects
This Request calls for proposals to include a discrete project that reflects and embodies your strategic approach. The City considers the following as priority ‘building blocks’for advancing the local and regional economy:
· Capitalizing on the universities and colleges in the greater Greensboro community and high impact collaborations between these institutions and the private sector
· Attracting people, businesses, and investment in the downtown area
· Enhancing the arts and other quality of life features
· Improving the impact of Piedmont Triad International Airport and airport area infrastructure"
Of course, that's not everything but that's more than enough to make my points.
Now I'm not claiming for even a minute that my ideas are the best. While I am posting to GreensboroIdeas.org I'm not submitting an RFP at all. But if someone were to submit an idea that didn't fit any of the criteria above but was clearly head and shoulders above all the other ideas in terms of economic development for Greensboro, would that idea simply be tossed out because it didn't fit Mayor Robbie Perkins' preconceived notions of what economic development is supposed to look like.
And because Greensboro doesn't have Open Government Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4, would Greensboro's citizens ever know the greatest idea there ever was, had ever existed in the first place?
No, my ideas aren't the greatest, but if they were and they got tossed out because they didn't fit, would we even know it?
