Here's what Tom presented:
For those that couldn't
make it to tonight's city council meeting, here's the text of what I presented on
the group's behalf:
My name is Tom
Colegrove and tonight I represent the group, “Take Back DuPont”, many of our
members are here tonight. There are several reasons we felt the need to
introduce ourselves to the council, staff and citizens:
· Provide a description
of who we are
· Explain what the
group’s purpose is
· Give an insight to
our future plans
· Dispel the notion
that we are ‘Anti-Levy’
The group members are
citizens of DuPont working together to ensure our city maintains its high
standards of living, is run in a cost effective manner and to strive to achieve
our vision of the DuPont of tomorrow. We are not an organization that will request
and expect results; we will become part of the solution. We will not sit idly
by and complain about things we disagree with; we will engage to bring change.
We will work to understand reasons for actions and inactivity and will share
our thoughts collectively and as individuals and do so publicly We will
remind the council and city staff of their statutory responsibilities and accountability to all citizens of DuPont.
In the short time since
the group formed it has compiled a list of things it plans to bring to
fruition. Samplings of that list include:
· Work with city staff
to bring about a city communications policy that
· Helps to bring about
regular and widely distributed public announcement, news and updates to the
citizens and businesses of DuPont
· We encourage regular
town hall and neighborhood meetings and published responses to public concerns
· We request that
elected officials submit an outline of their comments prior to the council
comments session.
Deviations are to be captured in meeting minutes so the
public can be informed when they cannot attend public meetings
· We will work to
identify wasteful practices and request they be changed
· Several public
service projects have been identified by group members that will be undertaken
in the near future, to name just a few:
· Adopt-a-Trail
· Beautification
projects
· Voter registration
efforts
· Making and
installation of bat-houses around retention ponds to combat mosquitos
· Bring about a clearly
defined relationship of the city to the ROA
· Which parks are
maintained by whom
· Event sponsorships
· Identify and
eliminate any duplication of efforts and costs
· A long term plan and
vision for the city
· We will work to identify
and support candidates for city and council positions so that no incumbent runs
for position unopposed
Shortly after the group
was formed and took on the name of ‘Take Back DuPont’ several comments have
been overheard, and mentioned in Op-Eds, referring to the group as “Take DuPont
Backwards”. All of us take offense to those comments. We are an improvement
focused group that believes that the city is in the situation it finds itself
today because of public ignorance and apathy. While we have opinions on what
should and should not take place in our city, we, as a group, agree to disagree
about a many things – the Levy Lid Lift among them. As a group we do not
endorse nor do we debate either side of the levy discussions currently going
on.
We instead are working to improve our city, our community, our government.
But as is often the
case, people are afraid of things they don’t know. Again, we are citizens of
our hometown willing to stand up and be heard and to do what we feel is right
for our city. But we won’t stop there – we’re willing to put the sweat equity
into the city as well. Our goal also includes bringing more citizens into the
city’s activities and to educate its citizens. We merely ask that we be given
an opportunity to work on our vision of community.
If anyone has questions
about the group or is interested in joining your neighbors, I’m available after
tonight’s council session adjourns.
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