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News
Montgomery officials seeking to set priorities : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisMontgomery officials seeking to set priorities
| Village board members, attorney hold first informal 'visioning meeting'
| by John Etheredge
| 7/19/2012
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Montgomery Village Board members took the first step this past week to re-setting their priorities for the village and village staff members.
Board members gathered for the first of three informal meetings that are ultimately intended to help them clarify their role, the role of village government and to identify specific tasks and goals they want village staff to accomplish.
The board has retained Steve Andersson, an attorney for the village, to serve as facilitator of the meetings.
Opening last week's meeting in the village hall community room, Andersson told board members the discussion would be broad-based and focus on a view of the village and village government from "30,000 feet."
"There are no right answers tonight, there are only the answers you all feel comfortable with," he said.
During the second meeting in the series, set for Aug. 8, Andersson said he will ask the board to view village government from "15,000 feet"-a closer perspective in an effort to have the board identify the "main themes" for the village.
For last week's meeting, board members and village department heads seated themselves around a table in the community room at village hall and ate slices of Tony Weed's pizza as Andersson, wearing jeans and a polo shirt with a NASA logo, posed questions to them concerning the role of village government and the types of services that village residents expect from it.
(Andersson said tax dollars were not used to purchase the pizza for the meeting.)
Andersson opened the discussion by noting there are a "lot of different definitions" as to the role of government.
Board member Andy Kaczmarek said he believes an essential role of government is to preserve and protect the rights and freedoms of its citizens.
Other board members identified public works, public safety, regulating business, water and utilities as being part of government's role.
Board member Stan Bond said "running businesses" and "competing with businesses" should not be the government's role.
Board members agreed that government should not discriminate against its citizens or be involved in religious functions.
When asked what they believe the average citizen expects from local government, board members agreed that some residents want to be left alone, but others expect "efficient operations" of governmental services.
Board member Pete Heinz told his board colleagues that many long-time village residents liked the village better when it was smaller with a population under 5,000. The village had a population of 18,438 in the 2010 U.S. Census.
Heinz said years ago village residents would sit out on their front porches and talk with their neighbors and not even lock their doors at night.
"It's not like that any more," he said.
Heinz, however, said events like Montgomery Fest have helped bring the community together.
"You can have a neighbor that lives two doors away and you don't even talk to them, but you see them down at the fest and you start talking with them and you get acquainted better," Heinz said.
Board member Matt Brolley said he doesn't believe it's the role of village government to make "sure everybody likes each other and has friends."
Instead, Brolley said, it should be "one of our core functions" of village government to make sure people want to live in the community.
"We want to have 18,000 people in this town next year-otherwise we can't survive," he said.
If the village were to lose significant population, Brolley said, it would create a havoc with the municipal budget.
Village President Marilyn Michelini said she believes many people have moved to the village because they are seeking a community with a small town atmosphere that is also quiet and safe.
Concluding the session, Andersson reminded board members the discussion at the next session on Aug. 8 would be more focused.
"Our goal is to get to village priorities so the staff know what you want. So next time, we'll start 'drilling down' on those issues," he said.
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