It seems over the past 4 years that the participation at these public hearings continue to decline. It could be a general lack of concern with local government, a general sense of apathy with the process, or people are too busy. Regardless the budget process should be reevaluated.
Public hearings are governed by State Code, but it might be useful for the Board of Supervisors to begin to show their true feelings on the budget prior to these hearings. To withhold their fiscally constrained budget priorities until after the public hearings essentially allows them to temper public criticism and cherry-pick statements from public speakers to justify their votes.
To better understand in advance how the Supervisors are approaching the budget could prove helpful at increasing dialogue between the citizens and their representatives - which is always a positive thing.
Click here to review Scott Shenk’s Free Lance-Star article.