Community Engagement

The core of every campaign Steve has run has remained the same -- the importance of informing and engaging the entire community to get a wide range of opinions and ideas so that we ultimately can create the best possible solutions. This includes our residents, our businesses, our staff, and our neighbors.

Herndon is a diverse community of residents, businesses, and staff who bring -- or should be able to bring -- their own unique perspectives and experiences to our discussions to help us form the best possible paths forward for Herndon. Listening to different viewpoints, analyzing proposals, and working to bring solid plans out of that work is something Steve has done well across both his professional and volunteer roles for a long time. For this to work, however, leaders must be actively engaged in making sure the community is informed of the issues, getting the community's feedback, and then looking at that feedback in an open and honest way.

Sadly this is increasingly not the path that the Town Council has taken and instead we get to hear over and over again about how the "majority of council" (which really is a voting block controlled by one member) supports a particular action plan that is rooted in personal agendas. They do not attempt to get informed feedback from the community and -- in a number of cases -- have acted contrary to the public opinion and ideas that have been expressed.

Stevan Porter has been trying to share information and keep the community informed through social media, attending meetings, and talking with people for years. He also believes leaders need to be getting out into the community and providing opportunities to hear from the people they serve outside of the Tuesday evening Public Hearings that happen once or twice per month. Steve supports bringing back the community roundtable events, having informal meetings more frequently with people, and continuing to find ways to make information about the issues facing our community available in various formats and languages so that our entire community can be part of the discussions that ultimately drive the life and success of our town.