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Constructive <br />Engagement: <br />putting it into <br />Pretty much anyone who has worked in local government has their own community <br />engagement "horror story," leading some to conclude that the answer is to avoid public <br />participation whenever possible. <br />Please don't. <br />Community engagement can be messy. It can be uncomfortable. It can be frustrating. It <br />can also be breathtaking In Its capacity to generate groundbreaking solutions In <br />communities. Sometimes getting to those solutions requires slogging through messy, <br />uncomfortable, and frustrating stages. And sometimes, choosing engagement strategies <br />carefully can help make those stages a little less messy, uncomfortable, and frustrating. <br />Ignore? Inform? Defend? Or Host? <br />Engagement horror stories are often the result of community members' perceptions <br />(sometimes warranted!) that decisions have been made in advance by the powers -that - <br />be. The International City, and County, Managers Association describes some of the <br />engagement choices available to local governments when It comes to approaching <br />potentially contentious Issues: <br />Defensive posturing in community engagement is very costly and con easily be avoided. By <br />utilizing o brooder set- of tools for online engagement in these circumstances, we come across <br />os more open and ovoiloble, willing to hear oil positions related to a decision. We will be better <br />positioned to provide facts and offer reasoning for decision making because we've allowed all <br />of the ideas and emotions to surface, we've listened —and we've provided on opportunity for <br />the public to do the some. Sometimes the opportunity is oil that is needed by providing it, we <br />remove the perception that we ore hiding information or ore being driven by ulterior motives <br />we build trust in our community. <br />1,, <br />