Nice to Meet You

It’s nice to know that people connecting through blogs and other online social networking are interested in and willing to also connect face to face.  Last week, we invited people involved in so-called virtual communities to meet and talk about why they use online tools to connect, and how local government could also use these tools [...]

We want to talk to you — in person

Mecklenburg County has partnered with The Lee Institute to conduct a pilot program called MeckConnect, the purpose of which is to identify what motivates and what inhibits civic involvement in local government and the community. A key feature of the pilot is holding a series of dialogue sessions to learn why people are involved and [...]

Ready, Set…

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit in on the monthly meeting of a church group comprising people 50 years and above (although I qualify by age, I was a guest rather than a member).  These folks allowed us to spend time asking them some of the questions we’ve been posing on this blog…stuff about citizen [...]

Are you a good citizen?

Over the last several days we’ve been getting a lot of hits to this blog.  It might be that folks are just curious about what we’re discussing after hearing some news reports about Mecklenblog.  It might also be interesting to know that we’re having some face-to-face discussions about civic engagement in focus groups. We’ve met with a library book club, and [...]

Declaration of Independence and Interdependence

“…And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Above is the last line of the Declaration of Independence.  Okay, I admit I didn’t know this until I heard it on the “John Adams” series [...]

What is Community?

So Mecklenburg County has more than 860,000 people.  If you are one of these residents, the question is how do you define your community?  Do you see your community as the whole of Mecklenburg County?  Maybe you see it by virtue of the city or town you live in within Mecklenburg County.  Or is your community closer [...]

Welcome!

Mecklenburg County, NC, is a dynamic and ever-changing community. Your county government is constantly looking for new ways to engage its citizens in friendly, open discussions in more ways than just the typical avenues such as public meetings and hearings. Our official county Web site already provides you with a wide array of information and [...]