2022/06/27 - Mayor's Column: How Open Government Should Work
“AN OPEN DOOR TO O’FALLON”
A WEEKLY NOTE FROM MAYOR HERB ROACH
It has become more common to come across articles about City Council Members from other cities resigning and being charged with federal indictments for doing things for themselves first or without public knowledge in open meetings. When you read articles like this, you must appreciate how our City Staff and City Council have worked together and listened to concerns raised by residents for several proposals that came forth for consideration in just the last 18 months.
I am so very proud of our citizens, City Council, and Staff for showing how government should work for everyone. Even though O’Fallon has many good projects that receive approval, there are many that staff rejects outright because they do not fit in with the needs or plans of the City. Some projects need extra review and work when they could have a negative impact on our citizens. During the past 18 months, there have been 4 such projects in different parts of the City.
There were no back door deals. It was quite the opposite. It was open like government should function with as many as 7 public meetings and never less than 5 public meetings on each of the projects. Letters were sent to nearby residents in advance to share information on the project. Information was published on the City website and in local newspapers. Notices, letters, and public meetings allow our citizens to know what is being proposed and gives everyone an opportunity to voice their likes and dislikes at the meetings to Council Members, Staff, and myself.
Our City Staff worked with the developers while looking at City regulations, building codes, potential impacts on neighborhoods, traffic, and many other items concerning all the projects.
After hearing the concerns raised by our citizens in open meetings, City Staff and Council Members tried to address the concerns brought forth by the citizens. They recommended some changes to the plans that they thought would make it better for the citizens living near the developments.
On these 4 projects, citizens from the area expressed additional concerns for the changes recommended. This resulted in the staff working with the developers to try to cover as many of the concerns that had been raised and still have a successful new development project.
Working together and listening to concerns of our citizens resulted in revised plans that are presented to the Council in 2 of the 4 projects.
In two cases they were approved as modified; in one case it was sent back to the developer to make significant changes (which have not come back at this time after 6 months), and in one case the project was rejected completely.
All of this is the direct result of open government dialogue with the citizens and the developers.
Truly open government is not always pretty. It is sometimes described as looking like the process of making sausage and if you ever made sausage, you would know what I mean. But it is open and tries to fit most of the needs and desires into one unified package if possible.
In closing again, I want to say Thank You to our Citizens, our Council and our Staff for working through the process of open government and expressing yourself, listening to all points and understanding the concerns of all involved in a constructive manner. This Council, Staff, and I have worked to make citizen’s voices heard in an open and transparent manner before any project receives final approval and we will continue to do so. This will always allow for citizen’s concerns and questions to be heard before any project moves forward.
As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open.