Mayor’s Night In open for discussion

Willoughby residents will now be able to join Mayor Robert Fiala on Zoom to have an open discussion and share ideas amid the novel coronavirus.

Fiala said the original intent, Mayor’s Night Out, was to get directly in front of residents. Unlike at a general public meeting, these meetings would be ward specific due to each one having their own sets of issues.

“In a general meeting, it’s hard to get everybody to have that opportunity to talk about things that are specific to their neighborhood, so the Mayor’s Night Out was intended to be a time where we would go to a ward and have discussion with no agenda,” he said.

Since the coronavirus, Mayor’s Night Out has been re-crafted to Mayor’s Night In. The first test run via Zoom was taking place at 7 p.m., Feb. 8.

“In all likelihood, there’s going to be questions we can’t answer that night, so we’re still working through how we do feedback,” Fiala said in the days leading up to the event. “It’s interesting to see if these people are going to show up that evening.

“I think once you get people starting discussion, it’ll catch itself,” he added. Conversations are always better than presentations and this is meant to be a conversation.”

Not only has the coronavirus caused communication issues for the city, but social media as well, Fiala said. He is hoping that Mayor’s Night In will overcome the issue of misinformation, he said.

“People reach their own conclusions and then it becomes fact in most people’s minds, so it’s created a lot of misinformation,” he said. Secondly, (the coronavirus) has eliminated face-to-face conversations. Combine those two and there’s a public out there that’s distrustful.”

Transparency is still more important than ever because people need to be able to hear from the source and point of authority what the facts are, Fiala said. With Mayor’s Night In, they’ll be able to hear it in real time.

“When it comes to what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, we welcome people to ask us,” Fiala said. “That’s our sweet spot and we’re trying to get people to realize if they want information, come to the city. If it has to do with safety, our events, public service, let us answer your questions. Don’t use hearsay.”

Willoughby residents interested in participating are able to register on the city’s website.

Fiala