Recently, I wrote two articles regarding the proposed city tax levy increase. For those unaware, or who have not been paying attention, the city council has proposed a 15.7 percent increase in the tax levy for 2019 (down from an initial proposal of 17.9 percent). That levy will be paid via property taxes on residential and commercial/industrial properties.

The reaction on social media was predictably negative, with people decrying the proposed increase.  And who can blame them? I’ve never met an individual or organization that welcomes a tax increase, and in a world where budgets are getting tighter and tighter, an increase in taxes is very unwelcome news. It is very clear from the comments that citizens are concerned about the council’s proposed levy and passionate about the situation.

And it’s not just the tax levy that concerns them. Many articles I have written about the city council are accompanied on social media with negative comments about how displeased local citizens are with the actions the council takes. That’s not to say everyone is displeased, but no doubt the city council meetings must be full of citizens lining up in droves to air their grievances.

Except that is not the case at all.

I have been to virtually every city council meeting since May 2017. In the vast majority of those meetings, the seats are all but empty. Only on rare occasions is it standing room only, and that’s usually when the council is recognizing a team or organization (which is held at the beginning of the meeting; after that, they leave). There is time allotted toward the end of each meeting where citizens can address the council, but I can count on one hand the number of times citizens have done so in the 30 plus meetings I’ve attended.

And each time after reading all of the angry, vindictive comments expressing dissatisfaction about what the council is doing, I ask myself where these clearly concerned citizens were during the council meeting.

And it is to those individuals, who consistently complain via social media about our city council, but don’t actually bother to show up to the meetings and express their concerns, I issue this challenge: Put your money where your mouth is!

What are you doing to make the situation better? What would you do differently? What advice would you give the council? What, if any, in-depth knowledge do you have about the situation? The council wants to know.

“But, I can’t make it to the meetings!”

I get it. People have busy schedules and sometimes attending the meetings is difficult. But if you’re not aware, everyone in Austin has three council members that specifically represent them, two from their ward and one at-large. If you can’t make the meeting, you can find the contact information for your respective council member at www.ci.austin.mn.us/city-council.

“But, I don’t know when the council meets!”

The council meets every first and third Monday of the month at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers located in the basement of City Hall. If that Monday is a holiday, they meet the following Tuesday at the same time.

“But, I don’t know what the council will be discussing!”

If you go to the aforementioned website and click on “Agenda” on the right side of the screen, you can see a complete list of everything the council will be discussing and voting on. The agenda is updated every Friday before the next regular Monday meeting. The Herald also publishes a brief preview of the agenda the Saturday before the meeting.

“But, Hormel is the real puppet master that controls everything in Austin and the council will only do their bidding and won’t listen to anyone else!”

(Rolls eyes. Stares blankly. Crickets chirp.) You just continue wearing your tin foil hat.

As for the meetings, they are open to the public and you can address the council. Even if you aren’t ready to do so, attending the meeting might give you a new perspective on what the council does and the challenges they face.

The next council meeting is on Monday, Sept. 17. I’m curious to see who will actually show up and who will continue doing nothing but gripe. To paraphrase a previous column I wrote about voting, “If you don’t do anything, don’t complain.”