Politics & Government

Patch Election Q&A: Jeanne Felten on Question #5

Jeanne Felten's answer to our fifth question.

The question:

How can the village better engage its residents to participate in city government? Very few citizens attend village meetings. How can this be changed? What have you, specifically, done to get more people interested in their government?

Jeanne's answer:

I don’t honestly know the answer to how we as a village can get our residents to participate in city government. Our meetings are open to the public and posted well in advance. These meetings can serve as an excellent opportunity for residents to get a better understanding of what is going on in our village.

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I am amazed at comments that residents will make without ever having attended a meeting. I’m not sure where their information or their ideas can come from without a firsthand knowledge of what’s going on in our community. Many times it is just gossip or rumors. It is also frustrating to have individuals criticize the board who again have never taken the time to attend a meeting.

The village has recently started a page on Facebook and will be redesigning our website. I would encourage all of our residents to take advantage of any of these tools that are made available to them. Make it a point to check Facebook and the website in order to keep up to date on what is going on in Montgomery.

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