Conversations That Matter

This is a belated response to Jeff Doyle's comments of a couple weeks back:

In this sense, Norwich is like a dysfunctional family: it can't solve
its problems because it can't talk about them. I don't, however, think
the listserv is quite the right venue for a talking cure. Nor - for
different reasons - is town meeting. Nor are the select board
meetings.

I've been thinking a great deal about this because the Norwich
Historical Society is talking about how to make good on the "Community
Center" on its sign - and so I've been thinking about what I
(personally) think is missing from our community. I'm not at all sure
that the NHS is the one to provide it, but I do think we need more
opportunities for "face time" in Norwich in which citizens can have
conversations that matter. The town eating days are a great example of
that kind of critical conversation - but I think we need something
perhaps less structured and certainly more frequent. I'm not sure
what.

I'd suggest we, as a community, rethink the town plan process as an excellent opportunity to engage townspeople in "conversations that matter." Under the auspices of the Planning Commission, the town plan review process could become an on-going conversation about various aspects of the town's future -- the subject being concrete planning goals, but the process leading to more constructive conversations among townspeople as we all become more acquainted with other points of view.

While state law requires that the PC approve an updated town plan every few years, there's nothing in the law that says it has to be conducted the way we have historically revised out town plan. I don't mean to criticize our current or past Planning Commission members, many of whom have knocked themselves out to do their best with an awkward task. I'm simply saying a town plan can and should be a living, breathing process of public dialogue on specific tasks within the broad chapters of the existing town plan -- a continuing dialogue regardless of the town plan revision deadline. It's a very different approach that hasn't found traction in the past:

http://norwichnavel.blogspot.com/2005/05/open-letter-to-sbpccc-re-big-picture.html

I differ from Jeff's suggestion that more frequent, less structured conversations are the answer. In my experience, it's the hard work of trying to understand a specific issue and then having to take a stand on it that really makes the difference.

By the way, we will be starting work on the 2010 Town Eating Day soon and are always interested to hear suggestions/constructive criticism about how it might be improved.