A Note on Communication

Fellow Residents,

​The intent of this post is describe suggested practices and special considerations for communicating with Village officials.

First, it is important to acknowledge that as a government entity, any communication with Village officials may be subject to freedom of information laws (FOIL). In short, emails to and from Village officials probably aren't private. Your neighbors have a right to read them if they ask. The Village will comply with any applicable law or lawful request, including FOIL. Please refer to our Freedom of Information page for additional details.

Second, regarding communication with me specifically: I strongly prefer email communication to all other forms. I will generally not accept phone calls on my personal phone without an appointment. I am happy to make an appointment, via email, to meet with residents in person. I have created a Facebook page, but it's primary purpose will be providing my email to the public, and for interested individuals to follow. I will typically post via Facebook that a new blog is posted. Please follow that Facebook (link below), or regularly check back to this page for updates. If the community would like an email mailing list for these kind of updates, I'd be happy to put that together.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079466947201

Third, regarding social media. I would like to hear from the community with concerns and questions regarding Village business, provided it is respectful and constructive. I will not engage with personal attacks, destructive, or generally mean-spirited communication, especially on a public social media post. If you have a concern, or would like me or any Village official to take a particular course of action, the best way is to send an email explaining the request and why you want it. Everyone who works for the Village is a neighbor and is making an honest effort to help this community. They deserve to be treated like people. Expletives, Shaming, Condescension, and otherwise disrespectful behavior is not characteristic of the Gilbertsville any of us want to live in. 

Fourth, I acknowledge I am a full-blooded millenial, and more comfortable with email and the internet than many of our residents. If you, or another resident you know, would prefer a physical form of communication, please send a letter to the Village office with your name and mailing address. Depending on the number and other unknown variables of these requests, the Village will develop a policy for non-electronic communications and get back to you.

Fifth, join us for our Board Meetings! Sending an email, and then following up by speaking at a Board Meeting is the best way I know of to get your message across, and to get a clear understanding of why I (or in some cases the Board) choose a particular course of action. I will continue to repeat this, but I want community input on what we're doing. 

Last, if you have suggestions or requests for other communications from the Village, please send us an email! We'd love to hear from you, and to work on improving the effectiveness of our communications.

Thank you,
Nate Talbot