If you haven't read the rest of my platform you can click on the link that reads BILLY JONES FOR MAYOR OF GREENSBORO.
You know a lot of political commentary these days is spent on complaining about how people are too lazy to participate in the democratic process. And while that may be true I can't help but wonder if perhaps there's something more to it.
Perhaps in cities like Greensboro the problem is a combination of access, fear of new things, fear of getting lost, concerns about parking, concerns about not knowing your way around the building, climbing stairs, crowded spaces... You know, lots of folks just plain prefer to stay closer to home. It's simply what they're comfortable with.
For others the concerns are real. My 85 year old mother can drive her car to church once a week (It's less than 1/2 of a mile) but Momma couldn't get in and out of a Downtown Greensboro parking garage without tearing the fenders off her car if her life depended on it. Other than church my brothers and I driver her everywhere she goes. And the walk from the parking garage to City Hall? Momma ain't never going to make it.
And what about handicapped people? Sure, there's handicapped access to City Hall but it is still a very long ways from the parking lots to the building.
Then there's the people who must ride the GTA buses. For starters, a bus ride takes 30 minutes to an hour one way from many Greensboro neighborhoods and then there's the long walk from the Depot to the Melvin Municipal Building. Then the same thing to get back home. And should the City Council meeting run late night? Well those riding the bus will have to leave before the end of the meeting or walk home.
So why aren't City Council meetings portable? Every neighborhood in this city has schools and community centers with suitable places to hold City Council Meetings. And frankly I seen no reason why we can't take government to the people instead of expecting the people to come to government.
After all, isn't government supposed to serve the people, not the other way around?
So why not give it a try and put Greensboro's City Council meetings on the road from community to community on a rotating schedule so that more people have the chance to participate? Make the high rollers come out into our neighborhoods for a change instead of us going to them.
Then, if we don't see an improvement in the rate of participation in Government then I guess what they say about people being too lazy or not caring might be true, but until we've conducted the experiment we can't know for sure.
Share this and you have my promise that if I am elected Mayor of Greensboro I will bring the Greensboro City Council to your neighborhoods if I have to drag them kicking and screaming.
Which, by the way, is the way I'd like to do it.
Please continue reading If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro: Part 37, Transparency
