A great deal of work has occurred in recent weeks as the budget for the City of Three Rivers in the upcoming fiscal year has taken shape.  Difficult financial times have made the annual budget-making process considerably more challenging this time around.  Two special budget meetings of the Three Rivers City Commission were held – on May 10th and 24th – as part of the process in advance of the start of the new fiscal year on July 1st.  The latter session seemed to yield a consensus on the spending plan that will now be the subject of a public hearing during the regular city commission meeting on June 7th.

A ‘guest post’ by Peter Kageyama for The Infrastructurist blog provides some thought-provoking insights on the role of emotions relative to cities, their success, and decision-making, including budget determinations.  Kageyama is the author of “For the Love of Cities:  The Love Affair Between People and Their Places.”  The blog post mentioned is entitled “Why Aren’t We Building ‘Emotionally Connected’ Cities?”

Considering where we are in the schedule for adopting the new budget, there’s little time to consider how Kageyama’s ideas might affect this budget, but there may well be merit in thinking about his observations for the next budget cycle.  And it may be that some of the emotional connection he talks about took place this time, particularly in regard to the Scidmore Park Petting Zoo.

To access the blog post by Kageyama, click on the following link:  Why Aren’t We Building ‘Emotionally Connected’ Cities?

And please feel free to share any thoughts you may have on this topic by using the ‘Leave a Reply/Comments’ function below.

Bruce Snook
River Country Journal