For better or worse, thanks to social media notifications, I am often subjected to the thoughts of every Tom, Dick, and Harry in town. That’s fine. I asked for it by starting this news site, but let’s be honest: social media comments are not known for being productive.
Sometimes, I immediately mark all the notifications as read and forget about them. Other times, they weasel their way in, and I see what people are saying. Once in a while, usually, when someone asks a direct question or gets the facts of something so utterly wrong that I can’t help myself, I actually respond.
Still, there are themes that jump out from time to time, and two of them make me laugh:
Townspeople should have more input
The same old people are all on the boards; we need new blood
You might be saying, “There’s nothing funny about those statements,” and technically, you’re correct. But if you sat in as many meetings as I do, you would chuckle, too.
Listen, there are a lot of meetings in this town, and they can be hard to keep track of. In fact, that’s part of why I started this site. Still, given how much people have to say about how they want answers or to have their voices heard, you would think more people would actually show up to the public meetings designed to give them an opportunity to do exactly that.
Week after week, I see the same familiar faces in the audience of these meetings. I know them all by name now, and most of them are involved in town in other capacities. They volunteer their time to make Stafford a better place to live. Some of them have jobs. Others are retired. And they still show up at meetings to make sure they are informed.
Now, I know people are busy and don’t expect them to show up to every meeting, but you would think every once in a while, someone would show up to speak on something that matters to them instead of yelling into the social media void. In my experience, that only happens when there is a hot-button issue, usually at Planning & Zoning Meetings. More people showed up to speak in favor of their neighbor’s helipad than have shown up to all of the Board of Finance meetings I’ve been to combined, and I’d be so bold as to say that includes the actual budget hearings.
This leads us to the second theme on my list: “The same old people are all on the boards; we need new blood.” Anyone who shows up to the Board of Selectmen (BOS) meetings (or read my coverage of them) would know the selectmen also feel that the various boards and commissions need new faces on them.
For instance, back in February, the BOS tabled an appointment to the Emergency Services Commission because they hoped someone from the community would volunteer. At their next meeting, they had to appoint the same person because no one else had applied.
This came after a December discussion in which Selectman Kurt Vail said he would like the board to abandon its custom of automatically reappointing people who want to continue serving. He wanted the town to do a better job of advertising openings, which led to this page on the town website (which may not be fully up to date).
More recently, the discussion about whether Stafford needs a Recreation Director spurred wider discussion about volunteerism. The fact is, the same people show up on multiple boards because they are the only ones stepping up to take on that responsibility.
Now, I’m not silly enough to think this column will spur a sudden influx of concerned citizens to meetings. I’ve heard from enough people who say they are too busy and expect meetings to be available virtually to think that I will see new faces in the crowd. I don’t even really believe that virtual meetings would change the situation. All Board of Education meetings are also on Zoom, and those audiences are not much bigger.
In Stafford, we still have town meetings where the people get to vote on issues big and small. No one shows up to those either (Gilmore Girls lied to me!), it’s the same handful of elected officials and town employees doing the work there. Social media is responsible for many societal ills, and the disengagement it has caused while fostering the illusion that people are participating through endless commenting is near the top of the list. That’s saying something, considering we are talking about a technology that has also assisted in fomenting genocides and the mass distribution of disinformation.
If you want to make a difference, get out from behind the keyboard and show up in whatever way makes sense to you. Volunteer to coach a team or for a commission. Call the First Selectman or show up at the next meeting. The next time you are doom scrolling, and taking the time to comment, remember that social media is a time suck that keeps you from showing up and making a difference in the real world. Could you use that time to be the change you want to see?
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