Although there are many people who didn't engage with the first 10 years of discussion about what to do with the Josiah Smith Tavern and Old Library (JST/OL), some of them are paying closer attention now. Civic engagement is a good thing, so I applaud the intent of the anonymous person or group who sent the survey I received in today's mail asking for my views.
That said, good survey data requires a well-written, well-administered, properly tabulated survey. Unfortunately, even though this survey says it will tally the results objectively, it is not well-written and the lack of a way to easily return the survey will skew the people who will respond so their representativeness will be questionable.
In fairness, it's not easy to do a survey well. It's too bad that whoever initiated this effort didn't seek more input or professional advice so that the time and expense of this survey could result in something useful.
----------
As many residents know, I have been spending a great deal of time in the past year talking with individuals, answering questions, responding to emails, and meeting both formally and informally with people to discuss and explore this issue. I am committed to finding a good reuse for these buildings, and I invite you to share your ideas and to get involved.
NOTE: I fixed a couple of typos, as were pointed out to me by one of the commentors below. Don't post late at night, from an iPad, unedited :-)
