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Rev. Jennings Hobson and Rev. David Moore are the local prime movers behind the organization of Rappahannock County’s “town” meeting, scheduled for Saturday, November 12,g from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the courthouse.
The purpose of the meeting, explained coordinator Doug Wilson, is to identify underlying challenges that face the community. Interested citizens are divided into morning workshop groups with half working on a song, story and symbol for the county while the other half addresses issues. During the afternoon session, participants draw up a list of “concrete proposals” for attacking major challenges, said Wilson. “Most of the proposals arrived at in other town meetings have been practical tasks—something a group of citizens can do. Only a few proposals have been ideas that have to be brought before the community’s governing body,” he reported.
Wilson said that 40 town meetings already held in the Mid-Atlantic states have been “unifying experiences” that have left people in the community working together towards common goals.
“This is an important opportunity for citizen input,” maintained Rev. Hobson. While county government meetings are open to the public, they are centered around specific issues and a set agenda. Hobson noted that Supervisor and Planning Commission sessions are not designed as a platform for citizens to speak about anything that happens to concern them. But, he added, town meetings are intended for just that purpose.
Over twelve hundred communities and neighborhoods have participated in town meetings across the country since the project began during the Bicentennial, according to coordinator Wilson. He explained that the town meeting series
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