Sherman is giving Springfield Parks a lesson in public participation.
According to an SJR article, the Sherman Parks Advisory Committee:
1) Created a Facebook page to encourage public discussion.
2) Asked for public input before designs were drawn and a location was chosen.
3) Invited the public to their monthly meetings to participate.
4) Made an open ended request for ideas rather than limiting discussion to a list of pre-determined possibilities.
This dramatically contrasts with the Springfield Park District's action on the proposed Barker property park near Franklin Park subdivision.
The Springfield Park District:
1) Notified residents they were getting a park several years after the property was acquired.
2) Had a consulting firm draw up design proposals before seeking public input.
3) The article says a plan will be presented next month but mentions no further opportunity for public involvement before then.
I live in the neighborhood but didn't hear about the meeting until I read about it in the paper afterward. I called the park district to get a copy of the presentation and was referred to the consulting firm, Massie & Massie. Kent Massie was very helpful about answering my questions. I was told the park district would have the proposed plans on their website soon, but over two weeks later it still isn't online.
A questionnaire about the park is buried three clicks into the park district website if you know where to look. It refers to concepts A, B, and C, but none of the concepts are available online.
I give Massie & Massie credit for already doing more to engage the public than what I'm used to seeing from some other local bodies like the Sangamon county board. But, the responsibility for public outreach can't be passed off to a consulting firm. If the park board cares about community involvement then they need to step in and make a more sincere effort. What I've seen so far suggests that they're only going through the motions of doing the bare minimum.
I've been thinking about calling a park board member to discuss the project, but since they aren't elected to individual districts I'm not sure which of the at-large members I should call first. I guess I'll pick a name at random.
Some things they should consider.
1) Hold another public meeting before a plan is presented.
2) Have a meeting format that encourages more back and forth discussion rather than one person sounding off at a microphone.
3) Ask for more open-ended suggestions even if they don't fit in with the three existing designs.
4) Provide the responses from surveys to the public along with a summary.
They may already be planning to do some of those things, but since their plans aren't on the park board website, I don't know.
Monday update: Massie & Associates are helpful again by sending an email with the proposals in response to an email I sent Friday. Still no sign of updates to the Park District website.