Presented to the Hampton City Council
Delphi Technique
October 12, 2005
by Joan Charles
Members of Council, staff.
I stand here before you totally disgusted. But instead of ranting and raving I will calmly tell you and the public what has been going on.
Your staff has been practicing what is known as the Delphi Technique. Did you know this? It was done with the Convention Center. It was done with the Old Wythe redesign and now you have done it with the Bay front initiative.
This is how it has been accomplished.
Consultants are hired that will basically deliver the plan that you want and the research needed to verify their findings. Everything is very positive … but the other side of the coin is never included.
Then you offer the public a chance to voice their opinions. At least that’s what you tell the public. Staff has already come to a predetermined conclusion.
Let me repeat that. Staff has already come to a predetermined conclusion.
Then they proceed to manipulate the meetings so it appears that the public is in agreement.
Let me repeat that. Then they proceed to manipulate the meetings so it appears that the public is in agreement.
There is never any true debate. Audiences must sit through presentation after presentation. Oh, yes, there is always a facilitator. You’ve got to watch out for those facilitators. Sometimes the attendees are divided into groups with more facilitators … and they get to put red or blue dots on maps. Or they get to write questions on cards that may or may not get answered.
Is there ever a collective vote? Absolutely not. Is this blatant control and an obvious disregard to the public’s opinion?
Are you are basically lying to the citizens when you tell them you want their opinions?
The military uses this technique to get everyone on the same page. Fine. Corporations use it. Fine. It should NEVER be used in the Democratic process. We are not military, we are not employees. We are thinking, knowledgeable citizens and taxpayers and voters.
I personally observed three years of Delphi with the Old Wythe redesign … or should I say Chesapeake Avenue redesign. Crime facts were inaccurate and proven so; real estate values were manipulated and proven so. Then when an actual independent door-to-door survey was done in one section it was found that over 90% of those residents wanted the city to go away. But the Neighborhood Office kept sending out surveys until they finally got what they wanted … and thousands of dollars are now being spent on the redesign of Chesapeake Avenue with new curbs and gutters and extended driveways with extended lawns, etc. while other parts of the city with worse problems have been pushed aside.
In the case of the Convention Center, the first presentation proved that the citizens were so agitated that the staff clamped down on the next meeting and then the public got so disgusted they quit coming. Was any kind of a vote ever taken … Absolutely not. Over $100 million have been spent with out true public input.
In the case of Buckroe the vote of one small organization was accepted as the end all, be all. But when hundreds gathered at the convention center last night (Tuesday, October 11) a show of hands was not allowed.
Is this making any sense to you?
It isn’t making any sense to the citizens. And will the signatures of over 8,000 citizens make any difference to you?
If this continues I think we will need to change the name of my beloved city from Hampton to Shamton … because this manipulation is nothing but a sham and I am totally ashamed of it.
I encourage the citizens that signed the Buckroe Green Space petition to make sure they are registered voters and let their voices be heard in 2006.
That will be a Democratic vote you cannot stop.
J. Charles
Hampton
