It is bad enough potentially having the house you’ve lived in for 51 years expropriated - it is far worse finding out via a general notice in the mail for a public meeting.  It is kind of like finding out that you’ve lost your job because the nameplate changer arrives at your office the day before your pink slip.

As reported by the Toronto Star, several families may have their houses expropriated to make way for new exits for several existing TTC subway stations in Toronto - including a poor guy who actually worked as a subway operator for 35 years .  Cities sometimes need to expropriate homes in the name of progress and the public good, but it would be nice to get a phone call, a fruit basket, or some kind of personal, human gesture rather than a pamphlet in the mail.

Some legal eagle types may argue that the city met its legal obligations to provide notice - I’m sure there were even some other breadcrumbs over the years that could have tweaked the homeowners that this could be a possibility - but sometimes you need to go the extra mile, particularly when decisions can directly affect a neighbourhood or an individual homeowner. 

This is a very extreme example - the kind of FUBAR situation that you write in communications textbooks, or scipts of NBC’s Parks and Recreation - but it does emphasize what can happen when dotting I’s and crossing T’s trumps authentic communication with the public.  A few more Leslie Knopes in Municipal government and a few less Ron Swansons would make a world of difference, in my humble opinion.