Re: Meet your City Council Candidates

[Ken Medlin <dev-plan@moscow.com>]

Don: I certainly respect your statement as it stands, and the CC surely 
has a responsibility to the general public, who supports businesses and 
the professions, to "reach out" and provide a convenient venue. I don't 
know if you read my statement on this, but I will stand by it.  If one 
accepts the principle that the Chamber has an obligation it ought not, in 
the opinion of some folks, to choose a venue with a tarif, a setting and 
a time that exclude a lot of people. I spent many, many years as a CC 
member in other communities, and typically their community posture was 
quaite a bit less exclusive than is this gesture. The terms of the 
meeting will tend to "select" a certain clientele and give the meeting a 
distinct aura, which, in terms of "open community" meetings for the 
general public, does not well serve the purpose. That's my main point.  I 
can well affort the 8 or 16 bucks, but a lot of ordinary folks,and 
students, who contribute a lot to the local economy, cannot usually 
afford such a contribution. I think CC could have done much better than 
this.Just one example:  As a sponsor of meeting for a general school 
board election, the Chamber of which I was a member chose a junior high 
school to hold its meeting, in the early evening after dinner. To me, 
that's outreach and a caring way to tell the public that "we care."  
Caritas to all, not just to some.  Ken M.

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William K. Medlin
Dev-plan associates
930 Kenneth Street
Moscow ID 83843
208/892-0148
dev-plan@moscow.com