Sedona City Manager Karen Osburn has completed her first two “Straight Talk” sessions and so far, she believes they are successful.
The city’s office hours are available for residents to voice their concerns and discuss any topic of their choosing. According to a statement released by the city, the goal for Straight Talk is to facilitate open office hours so that residents can meet with Osburn on any city-related question, concern, issue or general topic they would like to talk about.
“The sessions have been informative for me, and I hope the same is true for the residents I have met with,” Osburn said following her February meeting.
On the third Wednesday of every month from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., Osburn is available to talk.
The topics have varied from homelessness to short-term rentals, arts and sustainability, according to Osburn. Each guest was able to share their different perspective and opinion about their topic of choice.
But with each guest getting 30 minutes of time with Osburn, the city is looking to change up the format for next month.
“For March we are going to try a focus group type setting where we will open it up to five or so community members to participate in up to a longer discussion on issues as a group,” Osburn said. “We’ll go from there and see what works best or possible offer both types of engagement opportunities.”
The online sign-up is posted on the city’s website. And it seems that slots are filling up quickly for each upcoming month.
“I also commit to being open and giving straight answers no matter the topic,” Osburn said.
