The public process is a critical step in any public planning process, and it can make or break any planner. If you have ever hosted a public meeting I am confident you have either unknowingly stated or witnessed the foot in the mouth statement that is one of the worst things to stay during a public meeting.
I was inspired to write down these 10 after sharing some war stories with my colleagues. We all shared the worst things that you could say during a public meeting you are hosting. I can tell you that I have heard all of these during meetings, and all have led to a disastrous end.
I would encourage you to read all of these, and completely remove them from your mind. I warn you now, these are the worst things to say during a public meeting:
- I am from the Government and here to help
- We have two plans and we need you to select one
- We master planned your entire community in just one day
- We do not have a budget yet
- The comment box for tonight’s meeting is located at the back of the room
- We are in the construction phase. We really needed your input 6 months ago when we were in the planning phase
- We have hired a world famous consultant to solve all our problems: Translation, We hired an expensive consultant to deal with you
- We hired a communications expert to explain what we are doing
- We are showing these plans to you (the community) as a courtesy
- We are required by (any government agency) to hold this meeting
Please feel free to add your own war stories here under comments. I will elaborate on these in future posts.