Are you a New Englander? Did you know that 90 percent of New Englanders read a newspaper each week? More weekly newspapers are read than daily publications.

In Windham there are now two weekly newspapers, filled with local news. I’d like to think that 90 percent of the townspeople read a newspaper but from all I observe, it’s a lot less than that. “Man on the street” interviews done in the past, revealed how few people know the name(s) of any town officials. And unfortunately, that’s just the beginning.

When information is published in newspapers, not everyone gets the message. When news is broadcast via radio or television, there are many who aren’t listening/watching. And unless you are curious about your e-mail or regular mail, it’s easy to miss a message. I know a lot of people who don’t read their email on a regular basis.

Communication is a two way street.

If you are not receptive, you won’t get the message. Windham isn’t a small town any longer. Former gathering (and news-trading) places are history, for the most part. The statement, “No one told me” just doesn’t wash.

If you want to find out about something, you’ll need to make an effort. Read the papers; watch cable television; check out the notices on the bulletin boards at the library, town hall, the laundromat and several other places around town. Check the Internet – go to Town of Windham and access the Web site. Get your name on Jim Webb’s e-mail list and receive up to date notices of closings, weather and committee meeting agendas.

When an acquaintance complained to me about some news event she had missed, I told her it had been on the front page of the paper. She said she never read the paper and acted personally slighted that no one had told her about the news. I was stunned that this well educated, professional woman didn’t read a newspaper! She reminded me of a lot of folks who, at one time or another, told me the same thing.

As I said, communication is a two way street. Getting the news out seems to be more of a problem than it needs to be.

The Town Council is again discussing improving communication. I’m encouraged that this council will try again to more effectively get involved. Quite a few years ago, I volunteered to serve on a Town Council appointed communication committee. There were at least two, and I think three, of these committees appointed by various town councils through the past 15 years and I’ve served on all of them. And they all faded away into history, basically because of non-involvement of the councilors themselves.

The charge (or goal) of the committee, as proposed by councils, was to come up with ideas for improving communication between the council (or town) and the citizens. The request was to accomplish this without spending any money. The committee held meetings and discussed various ways to improve communication and came up with a list of 15 or 20 ways Windham Town Council could more effectively get its message(s) out to the public.

On the Tuesday we were scheduled to present our findings to the Council, we were told that there wasn’t much time for our committee, and so I reviewed the list out in the hall, with one of the councilors and was told they’d look it over. That was the last the communication committee ever heard from the council.

The committee was assigned its next task: prepare the town report. After that was done, it seemed like the urgency of improving communication took a back seat. Town meeting was held in June, new councilors elected, summer was here, and the Council concentrated on setting the tax rate. The citizenry continued to complain about not knowing what was going on; the Council still sat bemused that not everyone in town watched their meetings on cable and the communication committee members, one by one, found other things to do.

Some of the ideas that have been raised in the past include regular press releases, community meetings, posting of meeting agendas in newspapers and on cable television, town-wide events, a weekly news column about activities/actions written by a town manager or councilor, or department head. Some of these efforts are being, or have been, made but they need to be continual.

The key to effective communication is consistence and determining who the market is and reaching that market.