Thoughts While Raking

If we ever needed a reminder of how connected we truly are, the leaves would do it! Nothing like raking all your leaves and finding all your neighbors' leaves on your lawn the next morning because they hadn't raked yet. Or seeing a sea of leaves in the gutter (okay, the leaves in the photo are from my tree!), ready to pour into the water system. Or realizing you even have to rake (I hadn't really thought of this when I canceled my lawn service back in April!).

So out there I went, raking away, piling the leaves in a large garbage can and using my highly sophisticated shredding system (my younger daughter jumping in the can as if she were crushing grapes, while I held the sides) so I could add the leaves to my compost pile).

As I raked, the gentle scrape of the metal tines dragging across the crunching leaves, I thought about how easy it is to make a difference, not only by raking your leaves but by showing up. By simply showing up.

There had been a thread on John Heneghan's blog a couple weeks ago that sort of stuck with me. A few people made comments about the lack of women involved in the leadership of our soon-to-be-city, and someone wrote in to say that if the women wanted to change things, they should get out from behind their computers and get to the City Council meetings. Wait--let me make sure I quote this accurately . . .

In response to the announcement of two male Dunwoody City Manager finalists:

Ilovemykids said...

I'm glad to see so many women involved in the City of Dunwoody.


Thaddeus Osbourne Dabell said...

Seriously, what did you expect? The lineage of this city draws heavily on DHA and the transitory CfD and DY! Who was the last female president of DHA? How many Task Forces were headed by women? We've hit the ground running with a good old boy network derived directly from the less formal power structure previously in place. Furthermore, they're not accustomed to operating in the open and don't appear inclined to change.

DunwoodyParent said...

ilovemykids,

How many women were prohibited from running a Task Force? How many women were told not to solicit for City Manager? Only one woman that ran for a seat on Dunwoody Council ran a decent campaign, and she won!(I listened to all the women that ran for office many times and only the one that won presented herself as though she could do the job, in my opinion, won her race).

If you women are so disenfranchised from this City process then step up away from the keyboard and go do something. It's mostly men in the audience at the Council meetings. The City will need many people to serve on committees. I suggest women of Dunwoody show up at every meeting and get involved. Sign up for the public comment at the beginning of each meeting if you have something meaningful to contribute. Don't just sit back and complain because you feel left out. This City council is not coming to your house to ask for your involvement.

It's been well documented that the Council would soon select a city manager. If there is a qualified female in the area then she should have taken the initiative to put her name in the hat by contacting the mayor or council members. If there was a qualified female who took these steps but was left out, then I'll consider these 'left out' comments as legitimate. As Sarah Palin has shown us, it is possible to be a woman, a mother, and a leader. I'd love to have a 'Sarah' running Dunwoody.

Now, this of course made me curious, especially because I had not yet attended a City Council meeting myself. It was shortly thereafter that John included the announcement of this Dunwoody Chamblee Parents Council's meeting:

"What's Happening Under the Gold Dome" Education Issues 2009

Our guest speakers are:

*House of Representative, Stephanie S. Benfield
*Senate Chair of the Education Committee, Dan Weber
*Education Advisor to the Lt. Governor, Irene Munn.
Also, other hot topics like funding, charters, small learning communities, funding lawsuit, curriculum, state-wide high stakes testing, and the dropout rate.

I went to this meeting, at 9 AM on a Wednesday morning. It was very informative and contained areas of controversy that spurred intelligent, action-oriented conversation. Oh, and it was attended about 70 percent by women and included a wide diversity of ethnicities.

For comparison purposes, I attended this week's Dunwoody City Council meeting, which was a work session. I found it equally informative, with thoughtful questions from many of the council members. The big difference? There were about 50 men, 6 women--Adrian Bonser, Page Olson (whom I had never met but knew her name because she spoke during the meeting), myself, and three other women whom I do not know. Ethnic diversity? Let's not go there.

I called Page the next day because Page mentioned something about that red roof that is planned for the 4th/5th grade academy. The community apparently doesn't like that and wants a more muted color. I asked Page if consideration was being given to the increased energy efficiency of a lighter colored roof, as supported by the Atlanta Regional Commission and coolroofs.org, or if the change was being requested on purely aesthetic grounds. When I told Page I had been at the same two meetings as she had been in the last week, she remembered me from the City Council meeting, not the other one.

And therein lies the opportunity, fellow Dunwoody citizens (especially women and folks of various enthnicities). If you attend City Council meetings, you will get noticed. You will get remembered. And, most importantly, you will have the opportunity to have your voice heard. Every single citizen can, if he or she wants, speak for three minutes during the Open Comments section of the meeting. Just sign in to do this when you arrive (I didn't intend to speak, but there was no clear indicator that this was protocol, nor was there any signage directing citizens to the meeting location when you enter the church).

Yes, I know the weekly City Council meetings are held during dinner time on a school night. And yes, I agree attending 7 PM meetings on a regular basis is not a sustainable family decision. And yes, I know we elected very capable City Council members to represent us, and therefore we can enjoy our family time knowing we are in good hands (and, if you're anything like me, fall fast asleep with a book on your face because 4:30 AM comes awfully early!) .

BUT . . .

Here's the thing. All of us here in Dunwoody have a unique and exciting opportunity to take a front-row seat during the formation of a brand new city. It is a fascinating process and I invite you to be a visible part of it, even if, like me, you aim for just once a month.

To the City Council, I do have a few thoughts:

* Please remember that the faces that make up those Monday meetings do not necessarily accurately reflect the demographic breakdown of the city that you serve (Councilman Shortal did a great job of mentioning part of his district and their desire not to be left out).

* Also, please realize that there are many experienced, hard-working dedicated women AND men in this city making a difference each and every day who simply cannot attend those meetings. We have a community with a lot of young families and dual-career households, struggling and juggling to meet myriad responsibilities. If you want to engage them more fully (in particular, for specific committees), be prepared to see more 9 AM or lunchtime meetings, and to consider the following suggestion seriously.

* Perhaps, moving forward, you might want to consider more inclusive "conduits to conversation", such as using technology tools to transcend the confinements of space, time, traffic and other family responsibilites. We all know that John does an amazing job with updating the city on his personal blog, but I also want to draw your attention to a wonderful weekly enewsletter that Georgia State Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield sends out to her constituents. She also conducts numerous ongoing polls on her website, which gives folks a chance to weigh in on a variety of issues. These are robust, proactive ways of serving those she was elected to represent with timely information, and giving citizens more opportunities to be fully engaged with the process.

Just thoughts while raking.