Editor's note: The Decision of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China emphasized that we should follow the party's mass line in the new era. Guide party members and cadres to grasp the characteristics and laws of the party's mass work in the new era, regularly go deep into the masses, listen to opinions with an open mind, and conscientiously solve urgent, difficult and anxious problems. In order to learn and implement the spirit of the plenary session, China Youth Online launched a series of reports, going into grassroots consultation sites such as "bench meetings" and "building meetings" in various places, and demonstrated the work style of party members and cadres in asking the people's needs and pragmatically resolving concerns from the conversations held at doorsteps.
Since May this year, a WeChat public account called "Home in Shucheng" has announced the time and location of the "bench meeting" every week. Residents carried small benches to community squares and streets and alleys, and heads of streets, urban management departments, and offices came out of their offices to listen to needs. “几张小板凳一摆，干部与居民围坐成圈，社区里的烦心事、棘手事便就地摊开、当面商议。”江苏省沭阳县沭城街道党工委书记徐飞告诉记者。
作为坐拥183个居民小区、220栋家属楼、43.8万人口的城关镇，沭城街道老旧小区密集、物业纠纷、设施老化、环境整治等问题相互交织。 Over time, "little troubles" turn into "old accounts."今年以来，当地把议事桌从办公楼搬到居民家门口，推动干部从“坐堂办公”转向“上门服务”，在一场场板凳闲谈中破解治理难题。
When Xu Fei took office, he encountered a "big problem" that had been put on hold for nearly 20 years.东方公馆外一座占用人行道的报刊亭，居民多次反映通行受阻，可经营户靠它维持生计，简单拆除极易激化矛盾。
“基层治理不是非黑即白。”徐飞没有一刀切，几次把社区、城管、商户和居民代表请到一起坐下来谈，一边讲市容管理与通行安全要求，一边倾听经营户的现实难处，主动帮其对接新的经营点位、商定过渡安置方案。 After several rounds of negotiations, the newsstand was smoothly dismantled and the livelihood of the operators was properly settled. This incident also made him realize that governance should not just focus on "completing tasks", but should involve more discussion and empathy.
The street launched the "Shucheng Jiahua" discussion brand.议事会由片长牵头，每周固定时间地点开进小区，议事前，由小区党支部书记和网格员提前走访摸排问题形成议题清单，居民代表、物业、业委会及职能部门现场会商、逐条回应，形成问题、责任、时限三张清单。
有居民反映小区非机动车棚年久失修、雨天漏水严重，片长当场协调物业和业委会，一周内完成修缮；有居民提出小区缺少儿童活动设施，街道统筹资源，在两个月内完成了小型游乐区建设。 At present, the council has collected 886 questions on site and settled 815 of them.
When a deliberation mechanism is established, it depends more on people. Shucheng Subdistrict has organized more than 700 staff from government agencies and communities into a grid. “我们基本上取消办公室状态了，把办公室搬到了小区里面，他们有诉求，像聊天一样就说出来了。”西园社区90后党委书记方蕾说，她和同事几乎每天都在小区巡查、走访。
"We will take over the things that couldn't be solved before and finish them to the end." This is what Fang Lei often talks about. Jianling Garden, which she is responsible for, was built in 2003. Damaged roads and missing street lights have troubled residents for many years. An old man in his late 90s came to the community many times to report that his wife was semi-paralyzed and required a wheelchair all year round, and the potholed road in front of his home became a difficulty for daily travel.
改造资金一时没有着落，社区先请施工队现场测算工程量，把费用明细、分摊方案全部公开，十几名工作人员挨家挨户讲情况、答疑问，把账目和难处全摊在明面上。 In the end, each relevant household shared about 500 yuan, and the damaged road surface was successfully repaired. Residents of other buildings saw the tangible results and came to discuss road reconstruction in front of their homes.
Also taking over "old accounts" and focusing on small things is Wang Hanhan, secretary of the Party Committee of Dongyuan Community. “下沉不是坐着等事，是主动找事办。”他刚到岗时，东方明珠城小区广场路面多处破损，紫藤长廊因年久失修已经坍塌，居民连个像样的活动场地都没有。 Wang Hanhan took the initiative to contact the co-construction units and solicit support from the street, and the renovation of the square and promenade was quickly completed. Recently, another section of the road in Oriental Pearl City Community was damaged and flooded with water. The community is soliciting residents' opinions from house to house, and the repair plan is also stepping up.
A single problem can be solved quickly and taken care of for a long time. In response to the property management pain points reported by residents, the street has established a long-term supervision mechanism to avoid recurring problems.
Zheng Bo, who has worked in the property management position for 12 years, said that residents of Shengtingyuan Community were previously very dissatisfied with the original property. The street organized evaluations at the council site and solicited opinions from door to door to promote the smooth exit of the original property and the smooth entry of the new property.
郑波说，为防止“换汤不换药”，物业管理办公室20多名工作人员分片驻点，负责环境卫生督查、物业服务指导等工作；街道还从社会上征集198名环境监督员，每周随机抽取人员、随机抽取小区参加观摩检查，结果排名通报，并纳入月度、季度和年度评比。 Rely on daily inspections and observation and evaluation to promote long-term normalization of property services.
The bench is not high, but it is closest to the masses; small things are not trivial, and the original intention of governance can best be seen. Since the launch of the "Meetings between Cadres and Masses", street teams have taken the lead in visiting 596 communities, businesses, schools and other places, communicating face-to-face with 52,000 residents, and collecting 1,900 demands and 1,420 rationalization suggestions. The zero-distance communication model eliminates the cumbersome process of reporting at all levels, enabling people to raise their demands on the spot, clarify the division of responsibilities on the spot, and solve simple problems on the spot.
The real results are written in the data. Since the beginning of this year, the number of letters and calls from sub-districts to counties and above has dropped from 328 to 230, the number of complaints on the 12345 hotline has dropped from 18,000 to 13,500, and indicators such as civil litigation, police situations, and fire situations have dropped by at least 20% year-on-year.
Changes are also hidden in the attitudes of residents. More and more residents have turned from bystanders to participants. From a few words at the meeting, everyone later took the initiative to "grab the microphone" to speak; many residents took the initiative to serve as building captains and join volunteer service teams, and the endogenous power of grassroots governance was fully activated. "As long as we truly sit down and listen to the masses and actually solve problems, the masses will change from bystanders to participants in grassroots governance," Xu Fei said.
