Published: January 07, 2009 08:09 am      

LWV makes room for questions

The public will have a chance to attend and bring questions to several events coming up that will highlight Richmond, Berea and Madison County’s 2008 accomplishments and goals for 2009.

The League of Women Voters of Berea and Madison County are hosting the event that will be a little different than the annual addresses given by local officials at an event sponsored by the Richmond Chamber of Commerce.

“What’s different is this is being held in the evening,” said Elizabeth Crowe, president of the League of Women Voters of Berea and Madison County. “The (Richmond) chamber one is at noon and there’s not too many questions.”

The league also is working on making sure that each presentation is televised on a local access channel, but air times and dates have not been made at this time, she said.

“This is the first time that we’ve hosted a state of address,” Crowe said. “After the presentations, we will have question-and-answer period. We also want the speakers to have an opportunity to ask some questions of the community.”

The league’s goal is to provide more time for a general discussion period between local government officials and Berea, Richmond and county citizens.

“We’re doing this not to be in competition with any entity that’s hosting (a similar) event,” Crowe said. “We’re just offering a slightly different venue and hopefully people will have many opportunities to catch (the presentations) if they can’t come on those evenings.”

Berea Mayor Steve Connelly will present the “State of Berea” Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Berea Municipal building; Madison Judge/Executive Kent Clark will present the State of the County at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, in the Fiscal Court chambers inside the county courthouse; and Richmond Mayor Connie Lawson will give the State of the City address at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22.

All events are free, open to the public and a question-and-answer period will follow each presentation.

“Each governmental leader will present some milestones and events from the last year and set out goals and expectations that they have for 2009,” Crowe said. “Members of the audience are encouraged to also suggest issues they want local government to address. League members hope that the format will encourage more direct dialogue between our government leaders and local residents.

The league released its vision statement in August to articulate the organization’s goals for local government and our communities.

The statement is available for viewing at the league’s Web site at www.lwvbmc.org and can serve as a backdrop for discussion at the upcoming events. A list of local access channel air times for each presentation will be available soon on the league’s Web site.

Call Crowe at 985-0641 for more information.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.