No Coffee Talk, For Now

These first two months of 2010 have flown by... and I have to be honest, I feel as though I blinked and tomorrow is March. So much for getting you more engaged - that's what I thought today as I updated my other blog.

Well here we go! First things first - Do I need to re-schedule my quarterly coffee talk? This weekend - I met two residents individually versus my original plan to hold a coffee talk. Can't blame me though - last time I did it I only had one taker and she was a friend. For goodness sakes there was more press that people. I am extremely busy and juggling lots so I am posing the question - Wanna come and talk to me in a group setting or not?

Two - where are you guys at the meetings? The best way to get a dialogue going is to know what we are talking about. Yes, you most certainly can go online and see the agenda and minutes from the meetings but there is nothing like being there in person. You won't have to talk or anything. Normally, the meetings take minimal time - Committee of the Whole Meetings on Tuesday are somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 minutes on average and the Board of Trustee meetings on Thursdays take a lot less. Think 15 minutes on a long night. It is worth it especially if you have any questions and/or concerns about what happening.

Finally, with close to 10 months on the job - I want some feedback! In all fairness, to date I've been emailed, called or approached by a total of 6 people and I appreciate that. I always respond to every inquiry within 24 to 48 hrs. I've even had an anonymous comment on the blog questioning my vote on the Home Rule Sales Tax increase. I love to interact and ask that you bring it - call, email - leave comments here. Let me know how I'm doing and what I can do to improve my performance on the Village Board. That is an offer you cannot refuse - how many public officials solicit feedback that is not tied to a specific issue but to their performance alone? I'm betting not many but counting on someone to prove me wrong.

Enjoy your start to March and I will post again next Sunday with a preview of our first COW and BOT meetings of the month.

Asking For Your Vote Again...

Hard to believe that one year ago, I was asking the people of Lake in the Hills to vote for me to join the Village Board of Trustees. They heard, voted and I now represent them. Something tells me this time around it will be just a tad bit harder - but not impossible!

Voting opened at midnight at www.refresheverything.com for the Pepsi Refresh Everything Project where Pepsi will award grants of $5 - 250K to bring ideas to life across six areas, health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and education. Click hereto vote for my project.

Over at my other blog you may have heard me ranting lately about my idea to start a movement to change the way we look at relationships; to enable all people to be relationally healthy. Well - the time has come for your help. My idea - RELATIONSHIPS MATTER NOW is up for vote in the health category and we need to end up in the top ten to secure the $5K grant by the end of February.

WHY SHOULD I VOTE FOR RELATIONSHIPS MATTER NOW?

Great question, it's simple. We live on this planet interdependent on others. From a brief transactional relationship at the coffee counter to our co-workers where ever we choose to lend out talent to our deep and personal relationships, we all interact and co-habit this planet with others. And from the looks of the way we deal with one another (think current political climate, divorce rates, verbal intimidation in the workplace) - it is time for a change.

Relationships Matter Now will exist (with or without the Pepsi grant) to help people take proactive care of their relationships. We will raise visibility to the need for relational wellness in every one's life. Relational wellness is taking responsibility to proactively care for all relationships in your life. It's a two-fold proposition:

1. Self-awareness - we all need a true understanding of our own relational issues and needs.

2. Relationship skills - we all need to build the skills necessary to function in healthy relationships.

Out of the gate - we want to build the web home for Relationships Matter Now and get 50,000 people to pledge to work on their relationships. Over the next week you will be directed to a new blog to support this effort and it will live at RelationshipsMatterNow.com. I've got an awesome designer working on a logo and we are getting the pledge document created as we speak.

Clearly with the help from Pepsi - we can get this going sooner rather than later. Long term, Relational Wellness will be in the health care debate - it's not just about reactionary care - proactive care is critical - from all angles - physical, mental, spiritual and now, relational. There is a personal responsibility to this as well as a corporate one. Relationships Matter Now will lead this movement and we need your help.

Join me, Lake in the Hills (and anyone you know - we can spread the word thru the county, state and country) and vote for this idea to get one of the first Pepsi Refresh Everything Grants. Voting started at midnight and goes until February 28. Winners will be announced on March 1.