GOOOO....Gokey Gone :(

Now I know why I don't get attached to Reality Television. American Idol's Danny Gokey won the heart's of millions with his heart warming story, and down to earth personality.

Last week was Danny Gokey week in Milwaukee, WI (where my family lives) and I was positive going into the final elimination before the top 2 - Danny would be in.

Fingers Crossed, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert took the two seats for the finale. American Idol's season finale will air next week....

GOOOD Job Gokey and Best of Luck! (We are sure he already has a record deal)

...and I am boycoting the show until season in honor of Gokey.

Invite Only Community Meeting Has Some Conneaut Residents Infuriated

"How can you have a community vision meeting without inviting the entire community"? This question was posed by two local businessman yesterday evening in front of the invitation only community vision meeting.

Their question was echoed by several other members of the community, who felt they were excluded from an event that was organized to improve the City of Conneaut.

I attended the event, and here are the answer's to the closed door visionary meeting....

Organziers provided a Q & A sheet, to answer that very question... Here's what it says:

"What is Conneaut Cafe ?"

"This is an opportunity for the City Manager to listen to the community regarding their version of what they want for Conneaut. "

"Whose idea was this?"

"Rev. Chuck Graham of First United Methodist Church had been meeting with members of the community interested in holding a community meeting to focus on the positive aspects of Conneaut. When the City Manager arrived, Rev. Graham talked with him about the idea and the City Manager was interested. Over the last three months, Rev Graham and members of the community developed the Conneaut Cafe based of specific feedback from the City Manager."

"Why is the City Manager holding it?"

"The City Manager believes strongly in the importance of obtaining feedback from the community. In other communities where he worked he establish on-going and one-time ways for community members to give him feedback."

"Who was invited?""How did they get picked ?"

"The city manager wanted his first meeting to be a composite of the residents of Conneaut. The group working with Rev. Graham used the most recent census for the 44030 zip code and created a profile of Conneaut based on the demographics of the census. The 44030 zip code was used because that is the way the US census categorizes populations.

Members of the community, Conneaut Ministerial Association and the City Manager submitted names to consider. Over 300 names were submitted and each name included basic information like estimated age and type of employment. From that group, people were selected based on the demographics. For example, the average age in Conneaut is 38 years. The group then selected people that reflected that age group."

"Can I come even if I am not invited ?"

"The only people who are attending are those invited. If someone who is invited cannot atatend, a back p-person from the original list has been identified."

Approximately 80 people were in attendance including members of the community, local business owners, and political figures including State Representative Debbie Newcomb, members of Conneaut City Council and former Conneaut leadership.

The meeting consisted of round table discussion regarding 3 topics/questions; 1.) the perfect Conneaut 2.) steps to create the perfect conneaut 3.) how to support plans to improve Conneaut.
Groups rotated after each topic, and common themes were recorded on 3 large boards in the front of the room.

After the 3 topics were discussed, the City Manager spoke briefly and acknowleged the importance of positive community discussion, he also affirmed that he will consider the suggestions made by members of the community at Tuesday Night's meeting.

No future community meeting date(s) have been announced and no plans for execution of any of the ideas proposed at the meeting were discussed.