Coffee used as an excuse for electorate to communicate with mayor
We can all find something we want to discuss with our local mayor – perhaps you are a parent who has concerns about local schooling policy, or perhaps you would like to make a point about the local traffic schemes or parking restrictions.
However, how many of us can raise these issues while sipping on a cup of coffee?
Mayor Scott Myers in Dover, New Hampshire has organised a Saturday coffee morning so that he can communicate with the local residents in just this way. Meetings are arranged together with some of the heads of the relevant city departments, so that they can answer appropriate questions asked at the coffee meeting.
Is this programme successful? So far, it would seem so. Issues of concern were raised by attendees from the local community and were tackled by the major and his team at the meeting this Saturday. The topics that were discussed included issues such as the fluoridation of the public drinking water, queries about the new education budget for schools, concerns about a proposed freeze on state building aid and questions about the local parking restrictions. Some of the local residents wanted to discuss issues that affected them directly, whereas others were concerned about the effects of local policy on behalf of friends and colleagues.
In any event, the answers were proffered over a cup of coffee and, at the very least, voices of the local residents were heard so that the mayor and his team had a closer, first hand understanding of the issues on the minds of their community members.