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| Bragg: Visioning Sessions Proved Doubters Wrong |
At least one Galesburg mayoral candidate criticized Galesburg's community visioning sessions and the fact they were held at Carl Sandburg College instead of somewhere else in town, but Galesburg's top administrator says that candidate might have been in the minority about his feelings.
City Manager Dane Bragg says from the feedback he's gotten from the average of 70 attendees at each of the six sessions, opinions are changing about economic development in the city.
Bragg tells WGIL he hopes the "Galesburg Advantage" process has done more to unify people than divide them, and that it's okay to have disagreements, which are always welcome. "We certainly encourage anyone who disagrees or wants to offer different ideas to come forward," Bragg said. "It's not really about whether it's at the college, or the city did it, or who did it, or when it was done. It's the fact that we've seen people come out and participate. And, that has value far beyond any individual comment on a blog or any other negative statement that's going to be out there."
Mayoral candidate David Roknich used a debate to criticize the visioning session process -- but he's also been critical of Bragg and the council-manager form of government. Roknich came in last in a nine-person field of candidates for mayor in Tuesday's election.
The ideas floated at the visioning sessions will be evaluated by a committee and formed in a report that should be out later this year.
(Galesburg City Manager Dane Bragg, left, observes at the Galesburg visioning session March 27, along with Carl Sandburg College President Tom Schmidt, right, also chairman of the Galesburg Regional Economic Development Association. WGIL News Story and File Photo by Will Stevenson.) |
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| 04 10 09 by Newsroom |
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