August 30, 2006 DRAFT Meeting Notes for BIP #9: Public Involvement
1. Greetings/Review of the Agenda & Handouts
Members Present: Eileen Argentina, Art Alexander, Kelly Ball (for Marsha Palmer), Laurel Butman, Megan Callahan, Christine Egan, Tim Hall, Barbara Hart, Brian Hoop, Sandra Le Francois, Beth Kaye, Elizabeth Kennedy-Wong.
Members Not Present:
Jo Ann Bowman , Sue Diciple, Gay Greger, Brian Hockaday, Cameron Vaughan-Tyler, Rick Williams, Karen Withrow .
Staff: Maija Spencer Guests: John Ryan, Michelle Walch , Jonah Willbach.
2. Public Comments
John Ryan mentioned that he posted a suggestion on the blog and to contact him if help is needed.
3. Notes from July 26th
Barbara moved, and Eileen seconded to approve the notes. It was unanimous to approve notes as they stand.
4. Implementation Team Meeting (August 3rd)
Jo Ann and Eileen presented an up date to the BIP Implementation Team on August 3rd. One message they focused on was that when it comes to public involvement, you can pay now or pay later. The toolkit was well-received, and there was no major criticism. BIP #9 will go to back to the Implementation Team in November to present the final report and recommendations. Everyone on the team is welcome to attend this meeting to show their support and hear the response.
Jo Ann and Eileen have also met individually with all of Council, except Sten. Commissioner Adams and Leonard have volunteered to pilot the toolkit. Eileen and Jo Ann will meet next to discuss the pilot projects with Jimmy Brown, the public involvement coordinator for the Water Bureau and Jesse Beason, from Sam Adams’ office, who will work on the arts funding project.
5. Review of Draft Report
The team went through the draft report, cover sheet, and Impact, Evaluation, & Fiscal Impact Plan. Suggested edits and feedback will be incorporated into the final versions of these documents and presented to the team at the September meeting for approval.
Other items of discussion around final product:
- Question about numbers for decision matrix questions:
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- Pilots will test both ways (Jimmy Brown volunteered to do without numbers).
- This will allow for the evaluation cycle.
- Can also get feedback from other bureaus who are interested in using the tools now.
- Bring in stakeholders to validate the questions and process.
- Perhaps on Questions – put space at bottom saying: Level of Involvement is ____. (ie Decide).
- Resolution language for BIP #9’s recommendations.
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- Check to see if a resolution will be strong enough.
- Numerous resolutions get ignored – depends on the Commissioner.
- It may lead to an ordinance for administrative law later on after the pilot.
- The next step is the policy piece for accountability.
- Bureaus could report back on how they plan to use the tool.
- Public knowledge of tool and marketing to bureaus.
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- The neighborhood associations can help with this.
- Could even print up copies of the toolkit to put out at public meetings.
- Auditor’s Office and the Ombudsman office can help with accountability.
- Commitment to pilot projects.
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- Eileen and JoAnn will meet with Jimmy and Tim to discuss Water Bureau pilot.
- Will create letter from Commissioners Adams & Leonard to bureau directors and their staff.
- Art will work with Commissioner Adams’ office to ensure pilot works.
- Need to establish who will ensure feedback gets reported back to Implementation Team (perhaps Kyle or Ingrid in Mayor’s Office?)- steering committee to discuss.
6. Walk-through of Product
Christine led the group through an exercise to run through the toolkit. She assigned roles for the group members to play including: restaurant owner, BES staff, business association member, City Repair member, Neighborhood Association Board Member, Neighborhood Association member, and new Bureau of Planning project manager. Playing these roles, the group went through the questions and then saw how that would correlate to the spectrum.
Christine explained that in the PDC model, they set it up so that they would first make goals for public involvement, then they would identify strategic partners, and then select appropriate tools to meet these goals.
Example:
Goal: Collaborate with business leaders about parking and transportation improvements.
Strategic partners: Business Association.
Tool: Advisory Committee
7. Closing Words
Next Meeting: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 6:30pm at Metro