Early October MTT Meetings: Why Process Matters, Why "jokes" matter, Why equity in work matters, ...and more events!

Dear People!  First off, I am having a great time canvassing and meeting people, in all kinds of locations.  Many thanks to those who have hosted meet & greets and the wonderful folks who have walked with me doing door-knocking in both YS and Clifton!  AND I had my first video go kind of viral on Facebook!  (~6K views and counting!). The short video itself was actually made by my 87-yo dad, a retired Iowa farmer, riding along with my cousin in a combine harvesting corn, at sunset, ending with a quick selfie of him grinning from ear to ear--he loves being back in the field, & it was a beautiful evening.  

In my notes below about recent meetings, I highlight the issues of the importance of good meeting structure; new cybersecurity law & candidates with skills to be proactive and engaged for our increasingly complex world; "jokes," equity in "invisible work" ... and a poem!  So I hope you'll read on, after the events list...

Please plan to attend these upcoming events! 

• W 10/15 & Th 10/16! 7 pm Candidates Nights!  7 pm Mills Lawn Wed 10/15:  YS Mayor & YS Council  Thurs 10/16:  MT Trustee & School Board
• Sat 10/18 10 am:  Canvassing in YS!  Contact me for details. 
• W 10/23! 6:30-8:30 pm   Meet and greet in an eastern township barn! a meet and greet for Marilan Moir and me in another interesting barn in the eastern township.  I will share more details next week--please let me know if you are interested in attending (I love having friendly faces in the room!) or especially if  you know someone out in the Township to whom I should reach out!

TRUSTEE MEETING NOTES from 10/1 & 10/6:   

The Oct 1 special meeting of the Trustees was largely uneventful. focused on participating in grant funding with the County and Cedarville to completely rebuild Harbison road, and the urgency of the meeting was mainly due to last minute changes on the County's part.  It feels like a missed opportunity that the County didn't decide to invest in widening that very narrow (15') road a little more (it will be 17') to better accommodate walkers, runners, and bicyclists, particularly as that road goes straight to Cedarville University where there are lots of active students who use that road, and concerns about flooding / inadequate culverts were raised by a citizen.  

This past week’s regular 10/6 Miami Township Trustees meeting was more substantial and highlights the importance of good meeting structure, forward-looking budgeting, transparency, digital literacy, and respect for people and their time.  (Here is the text of the original email communications that I summarize below).

After the meeting, I sent a follow-up email (October 7) thanking the Trustees, Fiscal Officer, and staff for progress made—especially their approval of a clear pay structure for Miami Township Fire & Rescue staff and creation of new part-time positions. I also raised a few concerns and questions:

• The public packet for the meeting was missing several documents and recent minutes, making it difficult for residents to follow the discussion.  This is a new process for them, and some are still getting used to the idea of providing all relevant public documents, as a standard practice of local governance, but I do hope to receive some pieces that were mentioned, so I can keep getting up to speed. 

• I expressed support for the Fire Chief’s recommendation to lease-purchase two small trucks essential for emergency response, and concern about a Trustee second-guessing and delaying that lease-purchase, as it's my understanding it meets a need for increased nimbleness (esp. if there are two overlapping emergency calls), and rests on a well-thought out capital plan--which itself is also something of a first for MT, although standard for good local governance.

• I asked whether all Trustees and staff already receive cybersecurity training, as many of us already do in our workplaces, related to a new and somewhat complex Ohio bill that mandates increased cybersecurity measures, without providing support for the new training, etc.  

• I will note here that, with my academic and civic background, and experience working through complex legal and technical documents from my various professional and life experiences, I am well placed to dig into things like new laws related to digital security, find solid resources to learn more about emergent cyber issues, and understand the implications of new developments in these areas. This bill even mandates having one Trustee capable of making the call whether to pay a ransom in order to regain access to one's own network after a ransomware attack--something that has seriously disrupted at least one nearby medical system lately, directly impacting many people right here in Miami Township--which is no joking matter. 
  
  A good question for voters to ask ourselves: Which candidates for all local offices can we trust to understand, as best as a lay-person can, what is happening in places like the digital world and in Columbus, and possibly make such an emergency decision related to both our tax dollars and to the integrity of our personal data?  And which candidates are likely to have the skills, energy, and will to connect with other officials and even possibly lobby in Columbus for more support for small local governments trying to grapple with this new world, as this is yet another unfunded mandate?    

• Finally, Trustee Mucher made what I believe he intended as a joke about Ethiopia and cybersecurity that I immediately verified as entirely baseless (the biggest sources of cybercrime are Russia, Ukraine, China and the US), and which I corrected verbally after the meeting ended and people were packing up--the first opportunity I was afforded to speak.  I was not at all sure all three of the Trustees heard my concern or correction; only Trustee Moir acknowledged it. So in my email to them, I also noted the importance of accuracy when discussing crime and international or ethnic communities, particularly anything that seems based in harmful and unfair stereotyping.  

Over the next few days, the Fiscal Officer's assistant Cyndi Pauwels and Trustee Moir both responded helpfully, (thank you!) with Moir acknowledging gaps in the packet process and confirming that cybersecurity training will soon be required under new state law--and agreeing that care must be taken with language.   (The other officials did not respond.) 

On that note, I’ve noticed that, as in many workplaces, women in public service often take on the quiet, unseen work — following up, communicating, making sure the paperwork gets done — while, too often, others get the spotlight.  The invisible work is what keeps government transparent and accountable, and it deserves both recognition and shared responsibility (in the case of the Trustees).  It's vital to elect people to local office who have the skill set, the demonstrated will, and, ideally, a strong track record of strong communication and collaboration skills to ensure this "invisible" work gets done & shared equitably where it's a team's shared responsibility.

In a follow-up message today (October 11), I raised one remaining concern: the lack of adherence to the Board’s own rule requiring that the agenda be formally approved at the start of each meeting, and that any changes be voted on. Without that step, meetings often drift off-track, with topics taken up in random order, no clear motions on the floor, and no sense of closure on key issues. This wastes valuable time for staff and residents alike, and can make the atmosphere in the room tense and confusing (which was definitely the case on Monday).

I continue to appreciate the long hours and dedication of many local government officials and staff.  

My goal in raising these issues is to help strengthen how we govern—ensuring meetings are well-organized, transparent, and welcoming to all who attend.

Good process builds trust. And trust builds stronger local government that works for all of us!

Next MT meeting will be Mon, Oct. 20, at 5 pm in the Fire Station...and I will plan to be there!

POEM: I went searching for a poem that mentions the cyberworld, and found this mind-bender, by a poet new to me.  I like the way a slightly surreal poem makes my brain swerve around unexpected corners, flip upside down, and see the world new, like a Dalí painting:

Free Radical

By Alison C. Rollins

Before Gilgamesh invented

the kaleidoscope and Galileo

the Rubik’s cube, before the

scimitar-horned oryx went

missing, before the tamarind

trees went bare, before the

stars’ eyelids were wrapped

in tinfoil, before the leaves

could gnaw on water, before

electrons made donations,

before the owl wore a mask,

before the wind had a sound,

before the moon had a name

and the smoke a spine, before

the tulips crossed their legs,

before the tongue was

armored, before the ghosts

rode centaurs to riots, before

cyberspace was culled and

belly buttons sown to wombs,

before the taste had an after,

before intellect became

property and thunder

premeditated, before the

New, New World, before a

stone wished to be more

than a stone, before we had a

change of clothes, before the

grass was color-blind, before

the rivers lost their fingers,

and the rain stopped teething,

before the kings were all

beheaded, the gravedigger

neither young nor old, before

a lion was still a lion, before

the girls were all killed, before

the trapeze gave way.        We

hung           suspended in time

by the arches of our curved

feet and this tickled the gods,

tickled them to death.        & I

think our silence cut us loose,

let us go falling from the doubt,

secretly thrilled at the hems

and ever so eager to break.

[Alison C. Rollins, "Free Radical," Poetry, Nov. 2016, via PoetryFoundation.org.] 

Thanks for reading!

Lori

--

Lori Askeland, candidate for MT Trustee

Check out my blog! askeland4trustee.blogspot.com 

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