06/23/1980 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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- ..- ..- that if promoting public participation is all that is required, that is what they are doing now. If the question is whether those participants are helping e to create policy, then that is a different issue and much more difficult to measure. Mayor Keller noted that the public hearing could be held prior to discussion of those issues. Ms. Vanderpool stated that if Mr. Thwing had been present at this meeting he would have stated that the two Planning Commission members who sit on this committee, although supportive of the action the committee has taken to date, feel that this question is not reflecting the majority view of the Citizen ~ Involvement Committee. Public hearing was opened. Darcy Marentette, 1513 Fairmount, stated that this question has been very time- consuming. If the council would like the committee to look at the extent to which the public comments are taken into consideration for decision-making, then she would hope that the council could tell them how this could be accom- plished. She said it is difficult to analyze what goes on in a planning commis- sioner I shead. When the Planning Commission makes decisions that are contrary to expressed public opinion, it is difficult to explain to the citizens that their input has value. One suggestion that had been made was that when the Planning Commission developed staff notes a minority opinion could be published, but she feels this would create bedlam in the planning process. If the council desires this kind of community involvement then they would appreciate guidelines. There being no further testimony, public hearing was closed. e Ms. Smith noted she is pleased to see the committee's progress but feels the question that has been raised would be better dealt with in a work session. Elected officials have been responsible for setting policies. She would like to accept the report of the committee and schedule a work session to deal with the question that has been raised. Ms. Miller noted agreement that the issue could not be settled at this meeting. She feels that getting people out to meetings is not necessarily all there is to citizen involvement. There are more ways to be involved than just attending only the final hearing. She is not certain a citizen involvement committee can solve the question. In the letter from Steve Wood, he suggested that MAPAC have a representative on the Citizen Involvement Committee since MAPAC is the regional involvement committee for citizens. She feels that that two councilors may be too many. It would make sense to her have one councilor and one representative from MAPAC instead of two councilors. Mr. Lieuallen asked Ms. Miller for clarification as to whether she was supportive of the proposed expansion of the committee. Ms. Miller replied that more citizens or more planning commissioners could be added which would be fine with her. She does not feel there would be any prOblem with having two planning commissioners on the committee. She will no longer be able to serve on the committee. Mr. Lieuallen said he had been supportive of expanding the committee but after listening to Ms. Miller's concerns he is not certain now. He noted agreement ~. e 6/23/80--9