Maplewood Mayor-Elect Nikylan Knapper reached out to the MapleGOOD group to post a short survey to help her to prioritize the issues facing the city. She also agreed to have it posted on 40 South to reach as many residents as possible. (Update: the survey is now closed, per the website)Knapper won the election on April 6 and will begin her term as mayor on April 27.
Maplewood residents are asked to rate each issue in the survey 1-5 in importance to them. Participate in the survey here.
The survey has been closed, per the website: “Thank you to everyone who participated in this informal survey. The results have been tabulated and delivered to our Mayor-Elect and her team.”
Tabulated by whom? Where will it be shared? Who is “her team”? Isn’t her “team” the city council as of 4/27? Why was it shut down the day after this article was posted? This is why private groups should not be conducting surveys for a mayor. There is no accountability or transparency when elected officials use ad hoc means to go around city channels.
Lincoln, you need to relax.
Lincoln you are spot on
This seems well intentioned, but ill timed. We have only one mayor at a time. This kind of survey should be done via City Hall after the new mayor is sworn in to ensure transparency. This sort of thing should be public, not the purview of a private group of volunteers.
I wish the survey didn’t pre-populate some issues while leaving others off. Overall just happy to be asked for my thoughts.
Will the mayor not have access to city funds to mail out a survey? Can a survey not be set up on the city website? I’m confused why the survey is being set up outside of city channels. Or is it?
The Mayor-Elect has not been sworn in yet, I assume she is working with her current resources and we will see additional outreach once she is actually in office and can request city resources/data.
The mayor-elect needs to wait until she is sworn in before she starts conducting city business.
An informal, little-seen survey hardly qualifies as city business
When someone is mayor and they want to conduct a survey for citizen input, that is 100% city business. The fact that is an “informal, little-seen survey” means that only a select few will have the new mayor’s ear. Surveys such as this need to be conducted via city hall to ensure transparency and public input.
I think she would get more feedback if it were sent to residents as an email. I had never heard of the MapleGood group until now.
The survey has had pretty huge resident reach so far. As far as MapleGOOD is concerned, you’d think someone with such strong and very loud opinions about the community would be aware of the things that were actually happening *in* the community. MapleGOOD dominated local headlines and the city council meetings for around 4 months in 2020. Are you a new resident?
Also, what means did you go through to supply your email address to the city of Maplewood? Do you believe the city keeps an email address on file for every resident?
My advice to you would be to find more creative ways to voice your criticisms of our Mayor-Elect, rather than a lazy incomplete gripe on 40South. But, that’s just me. 🙂
Hi Maplewood Resident. Another resident here. Why so unpleasant? Seems to me that our Mayor-Elect would want as much response possible, so Mr. Hughes comment is pretty valid. Maybe Email isn’t the way, but how could the survey get out to the most possible respondents? Plus, MapleGood isn’t a) limited to MW residents or B) a good channel for those not on Social media. I’m a member of that FB group and didn’t see the post. 40 South News is another good option!
I really appreciate that our Mayor-Elect is out there, getting feedback and pushing for positive change. It would be nice if some other residents could follow her lead and be more positive and less confrontational. Let’s work together to continue to improve Maplewood.
Not sure myself why Maplewood Resident felt the need to go on the offensive here of Robert’s comment. I think they are making an assumption that he is griping or against the Mayor-elect. I did not see a “loud and strong opinion”. I saw someone suggesting email as an option. I too am in the Maplewood group on FB and missed this as well. I work in fundraising in the non profit sector. There is proven data that suggests a large segment of our donor list are better reached through email(and even snail mail which is making a resurgence) versus social media and blog channels. These demographics ALSO align with generational demographics. Having an email list of a specific subset of our residents would not be uncommon if our city had a digitized newsletter. Also that smile emoji is completely passive aggressive and toxic.
Snail mail making a resurgence? In Maplewood? I still have not received a package that was sent to me via USPS almost a month ago. A donation I made to Joe’s Place in August was not received by them until February. I don’t get magazines on any consistent basis. I had a tax info package sent to me from my preparer sit on a shelf for two weeks until I went to the P.O. and asked them to look for it. I get wrong mail and neighbors get my mail. Nuff said.
I get regular emails from the city and have for years because I signed up on the website. I think the city does a great job of communicating with residents via email and a very well maintained website.
I didn’t mean to write anything critical of the mayor-elect. I merely thought that using the city’s already existing email list might be effective.
As far as “strong and loud opinions,” I don’t think I have expressed any except to complain about the lack of traffic law enforcement on my street.
I have owned a home in Maplewood for over 25 years and I hope that the new mayor has great success and I appreciate her being proactive in reaching out to constituents.