Coffee tables instead of the podium

Public hearings, while required by law, are frustrating exercises. I know they’re frustrating for everyone. What I want more than anything is to step down from the dais and have coffee with each of you. In addition to a public hearing, we ought to hold a ‘coffee with the Board’ night. Each board member could sit at a different corner of the room, or in different rooms. There would be opportunity for two-way communication, opportunity for people who aren’t comfortable speaking on microphone to the whole room, opportunity for questions and answers. The public hearing at the podium would follow but I suspect that many people, having already been heard on a more individual level, would pass. I wonder what my colleagues would think of the idea.

Well anyway, let’s get together for coffee.