keeper

Strasburg town manager settling into role of serving the citizens | Nvdaily | nvdaily.com  

an excellent article. 

however, one question that I would have liked to hear Coggsdale answer: 

how does the town keep its focus on serving its citizens with a town council that seems more interested in playing politics--similar to US congress?

strasburg's citizens want to know--so do citizens of the commonwealth and the USA. 

note to Coggsdale: in addition to working with shenandoah county and increased broadband capabilities, working with vdot to solve some of strasburg's more vexing problems may provide unexpected dividends.

survey

from our window this morning it appears that 90% of the people on our street have their trashcans out. obviously, they didn't get the word that the trash pickup schedule has changed. 

which only goes to prove the obvious:

• not everyone in town has facebook.
• people are not "spreading the word" like the town desires.
• not everyone has email.
• not everyone has a computer.
• it is NOT the responsibility of the town's citizens to "spread the word".
• it is the TOWN'S responsibility to provide timely information to each and every citizen of the town.

Tiny stephens city does it. LOTS of other towns provide their citizens with important information in a timely fashion. 

get with the program, town of strasburg.

chicken or pig?

there's an old story: 

Both a chicken and a pig look on at a family eating breakfast. The chicken comments how a chicken’s eggs allows it to participate (or involve) itself to help others. The pig then comments on the bacon/ham; pigs aren’t just “participating” or “involved”—they’re totally committed! 

if you're a resident of the town of strasburg, then you're committed--you live here. you want a different kind of information than that provided for those who don't live here. 

it's important for the town to feed the chickens--to try attract those who may want to live here. their taxes can help the town to grow and to provide for those who might move here. attracting tourism increases tax revenue too.

but, it's also important for the town to feed its residents too. they need a different kind of information. they need to know that the town is safe for all who live here. residents need to know that the town is providing clean, safe water and that they're being billed fairly. residents need to know in advance when trash won't be picked up on schedule. residents need timely information when there's a pollution alert for the river. residents need to know that the town is addressing safety and security issues for all of its residents.

tourists and potential businesses are "targets of opportunity". we already live here. for residents, there's a big difference between promoting the town and taking care of those who already live here. each resident of the town decides how many of those who represent and work for the town are truly committed to the welfare of those whom they represent and work for. how do you rate their performance?