About 75 people participated in ‘Community Conversation’
As cities face increasing funding challenges, International Falls residents last week got a chance to hear about how the city funds its services and to provide input about how that funding is used.
Three “Community Conversations,” facilitated by staff with the League of Minnesota Cities, were held in the city last week.
The conversations provided information about how cities in the state fund services to its residents.
The conversations also sought feedback to fictional scenarios that considered four actions that brought changes to a city.
One of the fictional scenarios described a city implementing online-only application and payment systems for all licenses and permits, including dog licenses and building permits for home improvements.
The second of three conversations last week drew about 30 people who split into groups that were led by a league staff, who recorded each group’s conversation about the scenarios.
Members of one group at Thursday’s lunch conversation described the difficulties involved in implementing an online-only permit and application process in International Falls because, they said, many elderly and impoverished people do not have Internet access.
League staff stressed that the scenarios were fictional and not specific to any city, including International Falls, in the state.
Other fictional scenarios discussed at the conversations involved combining departments with another government and eliminating city workers; sharing facilities with another government, with the city having little say on hours of use, fees and schedules; and consolidating with another city.
The Falls conversations are considered a pilot project and follow conversations held by the league in a dozen other cities in the state.
Falls City Administrator Rod Otterness was instrumental in bringing the conversations to International Falls. Otterness serves as a member of the League of Minnesota Cities Board of Directors.
Otterness told The Journal this week that “anecdotal comments we have heard have been positive, so far.”
He said city leaders are looking forward to receiving a report from the league on the conversations held earlier in the 12 other cities around the state and on the local conversations held in the Falls last week.
“It is the council’s intent to use these conversations as the jumping off point for more specific conversations about specific services and how these services can be most efficiently delivered recognizing the budget challenges local governments face,” said Otterness. “The council will be reaching out to stakeholders, including other local governments, the school district, and non-profits, to find ways to deliver the services the community wants most efficiently and in collaboration with others.”
Otterness noted that city officials did not take part in the conversations to allow residents to provide uninhibited feedback.
“The conversations will help provide important feedback for the council so that it can have this dialogue beginning with a better understanding of what the community wants and needs from local government,” said Otterness.
Falls Councilor Cynthia Jaksa has been a local voice in considering how collaboration with other governments in the area can benefit local residents, as well as in conducting the conversations locally.
Jaksa said that about 75 people participated in the conversations, which she said was “exceptional, above average for the state.”
She also said 15 people volunteered to take part in future efforts to consider how government should operate locally.
“I’m pretty excited about all that,” she told The Journal.
Jaksa said she expects an executive summary about the local conversations in about one month.
“I am looking forward to moving ahead with using this as a base for citizen input to further discussions about collaborations with other units of government.”
