Sedona City Council

Sedona AZ (October 15, 2015) – The following letter to the SedonaEye.com editor, authored by David Reyburn of Oak Creek Canyon, shares his three minute public address before the City of Sedona Arizona Council on October 14, 2015:

To: Sedona City Council
From: David Reyburn
Date: October 14, 2015
Re: Communication between Sedona Council, Sedona Staff, AND the Public

I want to thank this Council for your vote last night.

You have given me back my life!

For every minute of public speaking, I spend at least 4 hours in preparation.

I WRITE out my speeches because I want to be as precise and concise as possible. I actually ENJOY the 3 minute time limit, because it forces me to FOCUS on the essence of an issue. However, less than 3 minutes becomes an exercise in “sound bites” rather than an intelligent presentation of an argument.

Today’s agenda item is about COMMUNICATION. That is an issue that I’ve extensively written and spoken about over the last month. For me it is about communication not only between Council and Staff, but between the City and the Public.

I’ll let you in on A LITTLE SECRET. If you want to SHUT ME UP, you just have to LISTEN to me.

I actually don’t need to SPEAK in public, but I do need to be HEARD. I think that is true for all citizens. It is when Public Input is limited that EMOTIONS easily escalate.

I’ve been to meetings that have gone on for 4-5 hours. Why go through such a grueling process? To DISSIPATE emotions, so that, by your actions, you CONVEY the message that you’re willing to HEAR the Public’s concerns.

I don’t think that it is too much to ask of Council. After all, you RAN for this office. Besides, not all issues require extensive discussion. As was noted last night, only 3 of us were left in the audience after agenda item 8b.

In your Packet, the City Manager asks a CENTRAL QUESTION: What is the appropriate ROLE of the public?

My answer is: the Public’s role is to be LEADERS!

Then, what is the City Council’s role? To be FOLLOWERS!

I know that this view is completely OPPOSITE to the common view of elected officials as leaders. But, according to the founding principles of this country, leaders are GIVEN their power by the CONSENT of the Governed.

Unfortunately, the Public has RELINQUISHED its leadership role, due to being IGNORED by elected officials.

At this Council’s September 23rd Special Meeting, I learned how precious this Council’s TIME is to a City Manager. I saw that Justin has 7 bosses, and has to juggle some very different prioritization perspectives.

After last night’s Council meeting, in talking with Justin, he mentioned about OTHER MEANS of gathering Public Input. I have no intention of wasting Council’s time. I think that public input forums with the City Manager might be more productive than trying to work out the details in Council sessions. I CONCUR with what I’ve heard from Sedona Councilors, that you are very FORTUNATE to have Justin as your City Manager.

That being said, I will now sit down and LISTEN to this discussion about communication.

Sincerely,

David Reyburn
Sedona AZ

Read www.SedonaEye.com for daily news and interactive views!