In the Absence of Information, Everything is Misinformation
March 23, 2021
Misinformation, I have heard this word far too many times in regards to the Lakeside Park Master Plan.
It is the responsibility of the City to provide information to citizens. Expecting that citizens should show up to public meetings and individually gather information is not realistic or practical. Traditionally, we had print and radio press coverage, but the staffing of local news organizations has been drastically reduced in the past years. In addition, we have lost the letters to the editor section and opinion columns in our local newspaper. It is the responsibility of the City and the City Council to step up and solve this problem.
I attended the citizen informational meetings held earlier this month about the management team recommendations for Lakeside Park with a list of 26 specific questions in hand. The answers were: “I don’t know” or “I can’t tell you” or “This is what we are thinking but don’t quote me on that.”
In the absence of information, everything is misinformation.
Every month, the Fond du Lac Fire Department publishes the Fireline Newsletter. You can sign up for it at this website: https://www.fdl.wi.gov/fire/newsletter. You can also read back issues. This fantastic newsletter always opens with a column by Chief O’Leary. It always has the statistics for the month and you can find out about new construction in the city. It has great tips for living safely. In February, it had excellent information about child safety which you can see below. This newsletter is an excellent community resource that is written and easy to access. I applaud our Fond du Lac Fire Department for providing such a valuable service to our community.
Every week, City Manager Joe Moore writes a summary of what is happening in the city and emails that to the City Council members. Our City Manager should write a weekly letter to the citizens of this community. Citizens should be able to ask questions of the City every week. Citizens should be able to subscribe to this newsletter just like they can subscribe to the Fireline. Citizens should be able to read back issues of this weekly newsletter, just like they can with the Fireline.
If elected to the City Council, I will see to it that we have a weekly city newsletter that is available by email so that information is available to the citizens. In this world of digital information, no one should be without adequate knowledge about what is happening with their city government.