In the heart of our vibrant community, the recent public forum held in Oneonta on the development of the new RSS building at the Ford Development on Market Street was anticipated as a beacon of participatory democracy.
It was expected to offer a platform for open dialogue, an opportunity for the citizens and business owners of Oneonta to engage directly with their city leaders about a project with profound implications for our community’s future. Unfortunately, what transpired stood in stark contrast from these expectations, casting a long shadow on the principles of transparency and inclusivity that should hallmark such gatherings.
Mayor Mark Drnek’s decision to precede the forum with an hour and-a-half presentation, while informative, seemed strategically designed more to lecture than to listen, more to persuade than to parse. This approach not only monopolized the majority of the allotted time but also set a tone that this was not truly a dialogue but a dissemination of decisions already made. The format chosen by the city officials effectively minimized the potential for genuine interaction, placing a barrier between the government and its constituents at a moment when connection was most needed.
Further exacerbating this chasm was the method by which questions from the public were handled. Instead of embracing the raw, unfiltered voice of Oneonta’s citizens and business owners, questions were funneled through a filtering process, sanitized of any dissent or discomfort. This curation did not go unnoticed. It was a missed opportunity for the city’s leadership to demonstrate a commitment to transparency and to validate the concerns of its constituents by addressing them head-on.
Instead, the process smacked of censorship, with the more challenging, critical voices finding themselves sidelined, their concerns glossed over or ignored entirely.
Notably absent from the conversation were the voices of Main Street business owners, whose livelihoods stand to be directly impacted by the development of the new RSS building. Their exclusion from meaningful participation is not just a failure of this particular forum; it is indicative of a broader trend of disconnect between city planning initiatives and the needs and desires of the local business community. The message sent, intentionally or not, is that their opinions are of secondary importance, a troubling implication for the health of our local economy and the vibrancy of our community life.
The forum, intended as a demonstration of participatory democracy in action, instead served as a case study in how not to engage with the public on issues of critical importance. The palpable disappointment among the 250 citizens in attendance spoke volumes, underscoring a growing distrust between the people of Oneonta and those elected to represent their interests. This event was a missed opportunity to build bridges, to foster trust and to co-create a vision for the future of Oneonta that reflects the desires and needs of all its citizens.
As we move forward, it is imperative that city officials reflect on the failings of this forum and commit to a more inclusive, transparent and dialogical approach to public engagement. The development of the RSS building at the Market Street site, like all city projects, must be navigated through genuine partnership between the city and its citizens, particularly those whose lives and businesses will be most affected. Only through open, honest dialogue can we hope to achieve a future for Oneonta that is vibrant, sustainable, and reflective of the collective will of its people.
The path forward must be paved with more than good intentions; it requires a commitment to action. It is time for Oneonta’s leaders to embrace their role not as gatekeepers of information or unilateral decision-makers but as facilitators of a broader community conversation. The strength of our city lies in the diversity of its voices, and it is only by listening to each other that we can move forward together.