Staff Report
Politicians often get accused, once they safely are in office, of not listening to the voters who put them there.
To be fair, though, unless it’s a really heated issue that’s gotten folks riled up — like the situation this summer in Cherokee County where the board of education attempted to close the system’s technical school — it’s difficult to get big turnouts for sessions in which the public can address government officials.
People might not be able to get off work, they might have other things to do or they might think their input won’t make a difference and their participation would be a waste of time.
Still, it’s impossible for government officials to listen to their constituents’ opinions if they’re never offered. So we’ll be interested to see how many people turn out at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the Gadsden City Council’s chambers for a public hearing on the three council redistricting plans that are on the table.
We’ve devoted much print space and Internet bandwidth to this story in the last month. Because of the 2010 Census results, changes must be made to the seven council districts, effective with the 2014 city elections, to bring them as close as possible to the ideal size.
