Shaping Orange County's Future 2003

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I- I Community Involvement Pagel The community visioning process allows insert run in the major papers of the County •many citizens to come together to determine gave citizens the chance to offer feedback on what aspects of their community are impor- the vision that had been developed. . tant to them,what they would like to see in _ the future,and carefully create a framework Additionally,the SOCF website provided • t .k'. �� for how to achieve this shared vision. In extensive information about the project and , ,:40 ; Orange County,the SOCF process engaged listed all relevant meeting and public hear- '," ,r many citizens from across the County in ing dates in an effort to reach more people. . ' a; varying degrees of participation in order to SOCF meetings and individual topical corn-. formulate a vision that best represented the mittee meetings were open to the public and -......7" '^4, ideas of the entire community. The"What's fairly well attended. on Your Mind"community forums and citi- zen surveys in the early stages of the SOCF Being a county that has a number of strong development provided the opportunity for urban and rural communities,people from SOCF also recognized the importance of many citizens to be reached. A newspaper all of these different regions were encouraged input from the Orange County children. to participate in the planning process. Many Through SOCF partnerships with six fifth different community organizations and grade classes located throughout the County, committees,such as the Commission for the local planners,and UNC graduate students — nI Environment and the Agricultural Preserva- from the Department of City and Regional k tion Board,contributed to the visioning Planning,children directly gave their input a process. Representatives from all of the town on the shape of Orange County's future. : and County Planning Departments,the Eco- The children created a list of top ten con- •' 1W nomic Development Department, and the cerns,which included recognizing the impor- L:'.. It Environment and Resource Conservation Lance of children's input,protecting nature, , ` r �:. Department,provided technical support for fewer drugs,and keeping and improving the trillor _. '' the entire project. good school system. • Citizen 's Roundtable The creation of an Orange County Citizens' one time to help ensure a diversity of people as distinguished from those who are elected Roundtable is a key recommendation of the attending each meeting.Citizens would be or appointed to official roles in govern- SOCF Task Force.As a County institution, appointed for three-year terms by the Chapel ment and the word"Roundtable" is used to the Roundtable would engage citizens in the Hill,Carrboro,Hillsborough, and Orange describe a group gathered for conference or discussion and analysis of a broad range of County elected boards.Professional plan- discussion,whether or not they are seated concerns and issues related to our county- ning and facilitation staff would support the at a round table.The Citizens'Roundtable wide community life.The proposed purposes Roundtable in its tasks.The proposed Citi- presupposes that all who sit there for discus- of the Roundtable are two-fold: 1)to provide zens'Roundtable is not meant to have its 30 sion and dialogue must be equals and thus, citizens from throughout the County with members talking only with one another but all will be both heard and listened to. a place for informal discussion of ideas and always to have others sitting at the table with concerns of special importance to them them.Annual meet- as well as to the larger community and its ings should be held at quality of life;and 2)to review progress on various locations around the SOCF recommendations, make annual the County to involve progress reports to the elected boards, and citizens from both rural i ' ! make any needed"course corrections"to and urban areas. The the original recommendations.Overall,the Roundtable might be li, Roundtable would seek to address real issues scheduled to coincide — '! "' and,through the consensus process,find real with other events such solutions that represent a community-wide as the annual"State of . commitment. the Economy". 416fiiairt. The Roundtable membership would be The"Citizens'Round- ihmitt• L diverse in regard to age,sex,race,and other table"means exactly . factors such as disability and/or special what it says.The term , experience,training,or education.Thirty "Citizen"is used to members would serve on the Roundtable at describe ordinary people 0 ,