OXFORD – Oxford wants to engage its citizens in the community’s future.
The town’s new community economic development officer is hosting a public meeting on Nov. 14 at the Oxford Lions Club at which time the results of a community survey will be released and discussed with hopes some of the suggestions can be developed.
“One of the first things the town asked me to do was a survey of the residents, businesses, groups and organizations,” Ruthie Patriquin said. “We have also had a couple of coffee drop-ins in which people could drop in and chat.”
The meeting begins at 6 p.m.
Patriquin said the surveys were available at several locations in town and were mailed out as part of the town’s regular water bills. Questions included what people like about living in Oxford and what would make it better?
“We wanted to hear what people thought about Oxford and we’re hoping to start some discussions about some new initiatives that can be done,” she said. “We also want to discuss on how we can build on some already existing initiatives.”
While she said she doesn’t want to release anything from the survey until the meeting, she said one of the things that came out of it is a lack of communication in the community since the Oxford Journal closed several years ago.
“People talked a lot about improved communication,” she said. “Some people really miss the Oxford Journal.”
Patriquin said one of the questions in the survey is how people learn about community events. She said one of her responsibilities with her job is to make some sense of Oxford’s online presence, including its website and Facebook pages. She is also expected to be a liaison between the town and its residents, community groups and businesses.
Patriquin is also hoping to use the information gathered in the survey for marketing purposes to show people why it’s great to live in Oxford.
“We got an excellent response from the residents but I have some work to do with the businesses to get more input from them,” she said.
Twitter: @ADNdarrell
