Council President Bardsley, Fran Volkmann, and Ward 4 Councilor Narkewicz met on Sunday evening to finalize the compromise resolution the City Council asked them to bring back to the Council by November 15, 2007 when the matter was tabled on October 18, 2007. They’ve made some additional language changes to their draft based on comments received from both Councilors and citizens at the City Council public forum held last week at Bridge Street School.
RESOLUTION PROMOTING BEST PRACTICES IN NORTHAMPTON DECISION-MAKING
WHEREAS, the City of Northampton City Council believes that effective citizen involvement is essential to good planning and governance; and
WHEREAS, the City’s new draft master plan, Sustainable Northampton, contains a guiding principle for “Operating the city as a democratic enterprise responsive and responsible to the fiscal, economic, social, and environmental interests of its citizens;” and
WHEREAS, all citizens of Northampton share the common goals for policy and decision-making processes that are well-defined, transparent, accessible, and embedded with a continual focus on community outreach and stakeholder involvement; and
WHEREAS, these shared community goals are vital to every aspect of government from planning and budgeting to public safety and the public works to sustainable policies for energy, transportation, and economic development; and
WHEREAS, the Northampton City Council, as the people’s elected legislature entrusted with both a lawmaking and oversight authority over all of these areas of government, must take a leadership role by creating a framework for positive community dialogue around these shared goals;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,
The Northampton City Council orders the creation of a seven (7) person Ad Hoc Committee for Best Practices in Northampton Decision-Making (hereafter referred to as “The Committee”), comprised of three (3) members of the City Council to be appointed as part of its biennial reorganization in January 2008 by the City Council President and (4) members of the public to be elected each by a majority vote of the City Council following community outreach efforts encouraging citizen applications or nominations to be submitted to the Clerk of the Council by January 17, 2008. Citizens already serving as elected or appointed members of City boards, committees, or commissions are not eligible for election to the Committee.
The Committee shall create and oversee a public process for reviewing municipal decision-making in the City of Northampton and shall make recommendations to the City Council on ensuring the use of locally and nationally accepted best practices in our community.
The Committee’s work will include the gathering of ideas and information from citizens, citizen organizations and groups, City boards and commissions, elected and appointed officials, and staff. It will also include the study of relevant decision-making best practices in other selected municipalities.
The Committee may establish sub-committees or working groups composed of Committee members and others to aid it in the acquisition of this information and in the formulation of its recommendations.
The Committee will deliver a progress report to the Northampton City Council no later than April 3, 2008. This progress report will include a preliminary work plan and a draft schedule for public forums and meetings with other groups.
The Committee will issue draft recommendations to the Northampton City Council no later than December 4, 2008 and will make a public presentation to the City Council on said draft recommendations on or before that date.
The Committee shall allow for a ninety (90) day public review period, to include community outreach and public hearings, before finalizing its recommendations.
The Committee shall present its Final Recommendations to the Northampton City Council no later than March 5, 2009.
Upon receipt of the Final Recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee for Best Practices in Northampton Decision-Making, the Northampton City Council will refer to its various committees of jurisdiction the responsibility for reviewing said recommendations and drafting appropriate Orders, Ordinances or Resolutions for the City of Northampton.
Upon the request of the Committee, the City Council may grant reasonable extensions to any of the reporting deadlines contained in this resolution.
The Committee may make recommendations to the City Council at any time prior to the issuance of its final report.
The proposed resolution, which will be considered at Thursday’s City Council meeting, is downloadable in Word format from the City’s website at:
