Published: January 23, 2007 04:04 pm            

A good chance for the public to be heard

There is a public hearing at the beginning of tonight’s Clinton City Council agenda and, unlike in most cases, we expect the public to be present and heard.

State code requires public hearings on several government issues, which means there also requirements for published notice of that hearing so everyone can be aware of the process. That’s all well and good, yet some topics that require public hearings simply fail to motivate anyone to action.

Still, it is important to have the process in place, for when government bodies simply assume something is routine and expedite the process, it robs the citizenry of its chance to provide input.

Tonight’s topic is the future of roads in South Clinton as it relates to street vacations requested by Archer Daniels Midland. That ADM is expanding in South Clinton should be news to no one, least of all those who live next door. But that there is a lack of information about the evolution should come as no surprise to people who have followed this story since ADM first started offering to buy homes in the summer of 2004.

Citing concern about impact on the global marketplace, ADM keeps nearly all its dealings as close to the corporate vest as possible. Understood. But certainly it is easy to see how some South Clinton residents feel left in the dark about certain topics, especially when our own City Council is unable to determine whether it has been fully briefed on the topic.

The city planning director insists communication from the ADM plant manager and the former city administrator — dating back to September — explain everything, yet confusion reigns.

Given those circumstances, Tuesday’s meeting comes not a moment too soon. With so much confusion, it’s improper to guess at who’s right in this situation — or if there is even a right and a wrong.

Some things are very clear — South Clinton residents deserve to have the South Second and Fourth street viaducts remain open to vehicle traffic. ADM has a reasonable expectation of controlling transportation infrastructure on land it owns. And the city needs to make sure it isn’t losing anything in the way of streets or right-of-ways without a good reason.

Yet it seems the most important thing to do is get all of the cards on the table, then determine how to move forward. Certainly all parties involved can agree to that.

We’re sure plenty of people will show up to speak tonight, but we hope thousands more are listening. It’s not as if ADM is buying up land anywhere beside South Clinton, but that doesn’t mean the issues that are being discussed tonight won’t some day be relevant to property owners throughout the city.

Much like yesterday, we call on people to become part of the process, to know what is happening and to help make informed decisions, not simply react to what happened when no one was paying attention.

        

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