You can bet that there will be complaints and heavy criticism from residents who did not participate in the workshop. Some of them had not filled out the survey or attended any of the numerous county-wide meetings. Government, local or national, is all about participation. The opposite of participation is apathy. There s a lot of that going on.
People excuse themselves from active participation because they are so busy.
But many of them will still get in their favorite TV program, athletic event or film debut featuring a favorite star. The tragedy is not only that democracy suffers form lack of participation. The tragedy is also that the attitude and apathy is taught to the next generation. Families need to discuss local government at home. They need to show an active interest in the news.