Guest commentary: Citizens should be part of city budget process. (Fond du Lac Reporter, 11/20/2011.
Excerpt: The problem is that when things get tough, the easy solution is to cut the quality-of-life issues because not everyone sees them as necessary. The reality is that when the economy is tough, that is when the quality-of-life issues are needed the most.
Taylor Park Pool and funding for the library are both quality-of-life issues that are a necessity for the people of this city. [My emphasis.]
Elected officials do need and want to hear from the citizens they represent on issues. It is easier to vote on an item when input from both sides of the issue is presented.
We as citizens have a responsibility to contact the elected officials; we are the people who gave them the responsibility. Even if we disagree with the decisions they make, we need to continue to give our opinions.
[The essence of Ruedinger's message.] Please stay involved with your local, state and federal elected officials; that is our responsibility as citizens.
As an outgoing city councilman, I encourage you as citizens who care about the city in which you live to become involved. [It appears that FdLPL is losing a council advocate.]
Hopefully, this next election will have several members of the community stepping up to the challenge of keeping Fond du Lac a great place to work, live and play.
In my view, the most important aspect of this involvement is relationship building -- more specifically, not being seen as a constituent who is only there to ask for something at budget time.
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