More particpation and collaboration in 2016

With a new year comes a chance for new starts and for ways we can improve from last year. Here are some things the Cheney Free Press Editorial board would like to see in 2016.

First, we would like to see more participation from the community at local meetings. The Airway Heights and Cheney city council meetings have little-to-no attendance from citizens. Residents who do attend only come to address council about an issue that affects them personally and they’ll leave after they’re done speaking. Medical Lake council meetings have a couple regular attendees but attendance could be better.

Other local meetings such as planning commission, historical preservation and parks board — groups that develop plans that have lot of influence with how the community looks — have almost no attendance.Cheney and Medical Lake school board meetings are well-attended but it’s mostly staff and parents.

We’d also like to see residents more vocal in addressing council and board members and bring up issues they feel are important.

We’d like to see more people like Bill Johns, who regularly attends the Cheney school board meetings and expresses views that are different from the school board. It’s not easy hearing different opinions, but those perspectives bring new ideas and could lead to something the council or board members hadn’t thought of.

We’d also like to see administrations take the time to respond to opposing sides and try to understand where these views are coming from, instead of just saying “thank you” and sending the person on their way.

We’d like to see council and board members speak up and ask their own questions during meetings, instead of going with the flow. Residents and board members should try to keep things constructive rather than argumentative when it comes to expressing concerns and issues.

We’d also like to see the school districts reach out to community members, other than parents and teachers, on issues happening in the area. The recent Cheney Schools Thoughtexchange results revealed only 19 percent of the people who participated in the conversation had no ties to the school. Medical Lake School District hasn’t released their results as of press time. Props to community members who want to see the districts do better and have taken measures to do so, but these issues also affect people without direct ties to the district. This might involve going from door to door with coffee and donuts.

In 2015, many new businesses came to the West Plains and more are coming in this year. We’d like to see businesses — new and existing — and communities continue to support each other. If a business gets invested in the community, they will increase their customer base. In turn, if customers continue to buy from and support a local business, there’s a better chance that business will stay open. The West Plains Chamber of Commerce and the Cheney Merchants Association do a good job of trying to connect the community and businesses as do local events such as Cheney’s Mayfest and the Medical Lake Founder’s Day.

At the state level, we’d like to see the Legislature finally decide how much it will cost to satisfy the McCleary requirements. There’s the argument to fully fund basic education but where will that money come from. We want real numbers. Maybe shuffle some of that money around and cut some of the money at the higher administration and legislative level.

We’d also like to see representatives be more accessible to voters throughout the year — besides when they are up for reelection. It feels like our state representatives tend to focus on themselves rather than the people they serve. The public needs to be more vocal about this and write and connect with our local legislatures.

We’d also like to see Sixth District representatives Michael Baumgartner, Jeff Holy and Kevin Parker come to the Free Press offices and meet with us every once in a while, just as members of the Ninth District did when we were a part of it.

As for us, we’d like to see more letters to the editor and emails from residents about how they feel when it comes to government decisions on the local, county, state and national levels. We’d like those feelings to be shared without anonymity. If you believe in something, don’t be afraid to stand up for it.

We will also continue to do our part, being involved in the community, covering school board, City Council meetings, as well as local businesses and sports as much as possible.

Here’s to a better 2016.