This is despicable. Yes, despicable.

Just read this pile of unfiltered garbage that passes for a Propaganda Press release (my empahsis).

Building on the success of her two previous Virtual Town Halls, County Executive Maggie Brooks announced that 5,144 County residents participated in last evening’s community dialogue on her F.A.I.R. plan to end the County’s budget crisis. Combining the attendance from the first three forums, 22,771 Monroe County residents have taken the time to participate in this important community dialogue; a figure that is double the seating capacity of Frontier Field.
“22,771 Monroe County residents have now chosen to ask a question, or participate in our community dialogue on my F.A.I.R. Plan to end the budget crisis while cutting the property tax rate with no cuts in quality-of-life services,” Brooks stated. “Through this important community dialogue, we are visiting every local neighborhood and ensuring that our friends and neighbors understand why my F.A.I.R. plan is the best course for our community to achieve true fiscal stability.”

Note to Maggie Brooks and every other elected official:

There is a difference between community involvement and after-the-fact justification. These Town hall meetings are after-the-fact justification and that the administration is trying to pass it off as community invovlement - the word you are looking for is deception.

Community involvement, now pay attention here, WOULD HAVE TAKEN PLACE BEFORE THE VOTE OF THE LOCKSTEP LEGISLATURE. It would have told the community what the government thought was necessary, why it was necessary and it would have gotten buy-in from the community.

Let me repeat, that all would have taken place before the vote of the lockstep legislature.

Oh, one more thing. Participation of 22, 771 residents, What are we measuring? How did they come up with that number? My guess is the number of people who picked up the phone at the cold call. I don’t call that participation. Neither should you.

So shame on any media outlet, Editorial board, columnist or blogger who falls for this transparent Enron Accounting method that inflates the number of people who actually participated in the plan development prior to the vote (outside the Republican inner circle um, that would be ZERO) into an apparently large number of participants.

Shame on Maggie Brooks and her lockstep legislature.

(THANKS to http://rochesterturning.com/2007/10/18/maggie-brooks-fair-plan-town-hall-meetings-deception/)