Dave Kleis, the mayor ofSt.
Cloud, Minnesota, has held a town hall meeting every week since taking office in 2005.
He records a weekly two-minute video message.
(Check them out on Twitter.)
He hands outNeighbor of the Monthcertificates.
(Neighbors nominate neighbors.)
Once a month, he invites a handful of people he doesnt know to his house for dinner.
For me, its invaluable to hear peoples thoughts about the city.
And eating is a great way to stimulate a comfortable discussion, he explains.
Kleis cites research that finds Americans greatest fear is public speaking.
This shows how its inherently difficult for many people to participate in public meetings, he says.
The best way to get past that is to have a conversation.
So the mayor cooks up chili, with and without meat, and sometimes bakes an apple pie.
Cloud State University and a psychologist.
I have a go at reach out to people who have less influence in the city, he explains.
Until as recently as 1990, St.
Cloud was 97percent white.
More than 40 languages are spoken at home by students in the public schools.
Other ways the city takes the pulse of the populace is through a community-wide survey.
Questions concern whether the respondent feels safe, welcome and included.
Many feared that the popular shopping center would lose business.
Weve been building community all that time, Kleis later told theStar Tribune.
You never know youre doing anything until a time of crisis.
Book published June 2018
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