A reminder that city council public comment meetings can be more like Parks and Rec than anyone imagines.
That said, showing up and making comments at local meetings can really matter. The number of people who actually participate in meetings like this is low. Showing up with a reasonable argument (probably not in a Darth Vader outfit) can have an outsized impact.
It depends on what your goal is in talking to the council.
Here, the goal was media attention.
If you want the council to actually engage with your comment - because it’s reasonable and not insane - then wearing an outfit probably will not help. Though I’m all for more Lord Bucketheads in politics.
I hear the complaint reversed far more often. The standard complaint is that city councils weight complaints from normal people far too highly. Only a small unrepresentative subset of a city's population will show up to council meetings to lodge a complaint, so that small subset is massively over-represented in council decisions.
City council listens to old residents with too much free time when they argue against an outcome you want. City councils ignore residents when they argue for an outcome you want. Such is the internet view on city councils.
> The standard complaint is that city councils weight complaints from normal people far too highly.
In most cases, what happens is they give a lot of weight to input from those who agree with the predestined outcome, and none to those who differ.
In these city meetings, all the decisions have been made behind closed door already (often with substantial greasing of the wheels), the open hearing are just for show.
My understanding is most of these local government "public comment" sessions are only done because they have to, and they'd much rather not, and stay as insulated from the commoners as they can. They certainly don't listen to or act on anything the public has to say, whether or not dressed up in costume.
My mom used to work for our local city Parks and Rec department when I was a kid, in north county San Diego no less. She swears the writing team for that show must have come from a small city parks and rec group, because every time we watched that show she would say “this literally happened, I experienced this first hand.” Anecdotal, but I like to believe it’s true. People are just wild out there.
In another town he would be asked to remove his costume helmet and if he even tried one hand gesture of his dark powers, the police would knock that hat off his head, twist his arm around his back and frog march him from the room. Don’t mess with ______ township.
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[ 1.9 ms ] story [ 23.7 ms ] threadThat said, showing up and making comments at local meetings can really matter. The number of people who actually participate in meetings like this is low. Showing up with a reasonable argument (probably not in a Darth Vader outfit) can have an outsized impact.
Why not? it worked didn't it? Media outlets all over the country picked up the story.
Here, the goal was media attention.
If you want the council to actually engage with your comment - because it’s reasonable and not insane - then wearing an outfit probably will not help. Though I’m all for more Lord Bucketheads in politics.
only by capturing more attention (much more) can you get on their radar
and even then, you'd be lucky to get anything more than lip service
In most cases, what happens is they give a lot of weight to input from those who agree with the predestined outcome, and none to those who differ.
In these city meetings, all the decisions have been made behind closed door already (often with substantial greasing of the wheels), the open hearing are just for show.