Village Center Presentation – May 04, 2021
Prepared by: Richard Ray
There was so much information presented during the meeting on May 04, 2021, that I wanted to comment on that, in doing so, the document was getting longer than I wanted. Therefore, my comments will be provided in multiple opinion documents with this one focusing on general issues with how the meeting was conducted and how participation from those in attendance was handled. Other opinion documents will discuss various details and/or ideas presented during the meeting.
Meeting Format:
The format of the meeting was prepared to be a “presentation”. Justin Ray spoke about “How Jersey Village got to this point?” That includes the video he made while he was the mayor. Bobby Warren and Andrew Mitcham then talked about “What will it look like?” The meeting was then turned over to Saul Valentin to explain several slides with other members of the group that was present providing additional comments regarding their part of the project. The format was “designed and enforced” to not allow any questions from the residents in attendance during the entire presentation. This should not be confused with what is known as a “Town Hall Meeting” where questions are allowed. Bobby stated multiple times that individuals could ask questions from the presenters on a one-on-one basis after the presentation was completed.
When the presentation was completed, the microphone was shut off and those in attendance were told they could leave unless some wanted to stay and ask questions to individuals. Several people did have conservations with Saul and others with his team; however, those discussions were not where others could hear or be involved.
It was my impression that the residents that were there in support of the project to move city hall to Village Center, left happy with what they saw during the meeting.
However, there were many residents that were not happy with the format of the meeting and especially with the inability to ask or comment on any of what was said during any portion of the meeting. Bobby Warren actually started the meeting with a remark that the Jersey Village Voters had already voted for the Village Center in the last election on Saturday.
Comments on the details presented will be in VC Meeting-Details-Commentary.