Editor:
Dave Uphoff
This week another new addition is being added to this website with the introduction of a survey system. The purpose of the surveys is to gauge public opinion on important issues. Most people are loathe to respond to any issue on this website because they do not want to put their name behind an opinion. As you may have noticed from reading the Pantagraph's letters to the editors, many of the letter writers are repeat (offenders) contributors while the majority hold their opinion. A well designed survey can circumvent the reluctance of the people to make their opinions public and provide valuable feedback to public officials when making policy decisions. That is not to say that every public opinion has to be the final say on what decision is made by our leaders. Nevertheless, we do live in a democracy and it is important that people make their views be known and become engaged in public issues. Those of us who elected our officials should have some say in policy. Few people attend city council meetings or school board meetings, choosing rather to read about the results of the meeting after the fact. That was made evident in the recent city council decision to increase the water bill deposits when some residents were upset with the decision even though public disclosure of what the council was about to do was made available on this website and the Woodford Journal. It is a fact that most of us are cloistured in our computer room surfing the net rather than being engaged in the public scene. Conducting surveys capitalizes on this phenomenon and helps people become engaged again, albeit anonymously.
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This week's survey covers the issue over whether Fieldcrest baseball games should be moved from Minonk to Wenona. Fieldcrest officials claim that the ball diamond in Minonk does not drain well and has resulted in the cancellation of games. Minonk city officials have countered with the claim that they were not made aware of this as a problem and indicated that $25,000 has been budgeted for improvements to the ball diamond and the surrounding recreational area this year. Other issues involved are ballplayers traveling back and forth to Wenona on Route 251 for practice and games. Many concerns have been raised over this issue and have been discussed here in a news item and in an editorial. Hopefully, the results of this survey will give the Fieldcrest Board of Education some food for thought when they vote on whether the baseball games should be moved from Minonk to Wenona at their meeting on Thursday, March 15, at Toluca. The survey is designed to prevent "stuffing of the ballot" by allowing just 2 votes per computer. The results of the survey will be released next Monday. There will be more surveys coming downt the pike, so stay tuned. To participate in this survey, click here. Finally, a new video webpage has been added to the website. Plans are to continually add new video clips to this page.
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