"Community Conversations" begin in Saint John

The City of Saint John is in the middle of a public engagement process called “Community Conversations” – senior city staff and the councillors for each ward host town hall-style meetings where residents can air their concerns and share their ideas to improve our community. Today I attended one of the Ward 1 (West Saint John) meetings and was impressed on a number of fronts.

Congratulations to city staff for running a very well organized meeting. I’ve been involved in similar events and it can be hard to keep such a group focused and on schedule, not to mention be sure that everyone at least has the opportunity to be heard. Their challenge when this process is complete will be to ensure the proper follow-up occurs.

I was also pleased to see such an engaged group of residents show up on a Sunday afternoon – too often I think people take the easy road of sitting back and griping about issues rather than trying to take action. These residents were involved, had obviously thought about their needs, and you better believe they’ll be following up on the items discussed!

Last but definitely not least, I met a teen by the name of Erin who to me represents everything that’s great about this community. All too often youth can feel neglected and ignored, and as a result most choose not to participate in “the process” or try to affect change. Yet here was Erin, giving up her Sunday afternoon to speak out about issues that concerned her, and doing it very well I might add.

And how does she represent the Saint John Community? Simple – like many of our residents she actively took part, was listened too by the people who can make things happen, and will very likely have a positive impact when it’s all said and done. I sincerely hope she keeps it up, and inspires more like her to get involved.