Alborn: The Planning Office Got it Right

OPINION

You know, there aren’t any blogs devoted to what Prince William County Government does right. 

We have one of the finest Police Departments in the Country (and that’s an informed opinion).  My drive from Woodbridge to Manassas was transformed from an adventure through Davis Ford and Henderson Road to a straight shot on the Prince William Parkway or Route 234 thanks to our outstanding transportation planning.  The roadsides are clean, the parks are plentiful, Prince William County employees always respond with courtesy and efficiency when I need something, I could go on.

But it’s not perfect.  Like everyone else, I complain about the stuff that could be better.

My column, What Do We Want From Government? Ask Us, was a tirade accusing our Board of County Supervisors, our School Board, and the employees who serve them about making decisions in a vacuum.  There is no reason for those who make decisions regarding the future of Prince William County to guess what we want.  The referendum process and modern survey tools make it much too easy simply to ask us.

Then those crafty folks in the Planning Office proved me wrong.  I’m sure it’s a conspiracy.  I am told there are a few folks in the McCoart Administration Building who don’t like my column or me. 

Or, they could just be doing a good job coordinating with the public. 

I kind of like the latter assumption.

Those of you who read my earlier column are aware of how much I admired the process used to execute the 2006 Referendums.   The Prince William County Planning Office is taking a similar approach in informing the public about what is going on regarding the Rural Preservation Study.  They are sharing information, meeting with stakeholders,  sharing information and…  wait for it…  ASKING US WHAT WE THINK!

That’s right, they created a survey to find out how the public feels about the future of the rural crescent! 

If you haven’t taken it, I strongly suggest you do so now.  You’ll find it here.  It will remain on-line until 27 September, 2013.  The Planning Office is going to publish the results on their website.

My complements to the Planning Office for doing a good job of informing the public, and asking us what we think.  I am sure there are those who will quibble over the details; however, they are in the position of having detailed information over which to “quibble”.

All we need now are more surveys to ask us what we want. 

I’m waiting for a similar survey on the Bi-County Parkway and the other options available.  This would give commuters, folks who live in or care about the Rural Crescent, businesses, and property owners a chance to weigh in.

The swimming pool issue is crying for a survey.  Should we build pools in schools, expand the Chinn Center, partner with NOVA, or let the Parks Department sort it out?

Ask us!  This isn’t the twentieth century.  We have the Prince William County website, email, Facebook, twitter, and lots of other tools to engage the public and let them know you are asking for our opinion.

The most important response to a referendum or survey is no response.  That’s the “”I don’t care” vote.  It counts. 

If most people in Prince William County simply don’t care about any particular issue and ignore this or any other survey, then it becomes a math problem.  You may not like the math, but those who don’t care…  well…  don’t care.  We pay people to sort these things out.

A biased low response also is useful.  If only a handful of committed activists respond with a consistent point of view, we learn that perhaps an issue isn’t as important to the community as those who would like us to think otherwise would like to characterize it. 

It sorts out the small groups of  “hair on fire” folks who claim to represent the community at large and try and influence the BOCS and the School Board with Facebook pages, web sites, and orchestrated theatrics at public meetings from “the rest of us”.  Since these “hair on fire” folks generally like us to pick up the tab for whatever they are advocating, this is useful information.

For the record, asking us doesn’t create any obligation for Government to act upon our wishes.  It simply provides more data for the decision making process.  Our elected officials may consider the survey results, the number of respondents, the suggestions or they may ignore the whole thing.  That’s their job.

If we don’t like it, we can get new elected officials in 2015.  Thanks to all those social media tools I mentioned earlier, the public is much more informed than it was in 2011.

How Prince William County Government and the School Board make decisions that impact our lives, our pocketbooks, our property, and the future of our children will never be the same.  We need people running our County who “get” this.