RE: Identifying the public

[Ricardo Alvarez <alvarez@fiu.edu>]

I agree with Keith Smith's idea of integrating public participation throughout the whole process. By doing this rather than just inviting public cooment for the initial phase we'll contribute to educating the public. Giving the public the oppotunity of being part of the process from start to finish will afford them the benefit of seeing (a) how the process works; (b) what other opinions or sides there are to an issue; (c) how their own individual comments and opinion may differ from those of others; (d) how they are able to influence or at the very least help shape public policy etc. etc.  In the end this public will "learn by participating" thereby gaining true knowledge of the process as well as of the specific issue at hand. This is the public that needs to be "identified".