May 20, 2008 Best Practices (website) meeting to discuss public forum
May 13, 2008 Best Practices (Google group) public forum
Visit the North Street Neighborhood Association to view photographs of the public comments as they were written by attendees at the forum. Adam has provided a partial list that was released by the committee as shown below. Many thanks to Adam for his volunteer efforts to provide this valuable coverage for the public.
Written public comments from the Best Practices public forum of May 13, 2008 (partial)
CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
*Need for public dialogue * recognition during meeting of members of the public *perception that considerable deliberation happens outside of public view *no ad hominen attacks *lets have less obstructionist political maneuvering and move to enact a vision of viability and progress rather than postponing more valid public forums such as this one *too stuffy no fun *change rules governing public comment * don’t mourn; organizethere are many opportunities to work, participate, make your voice heard. Join neighborhood associations or form your own. By organizing at the most local level you can make your views known in a democratic way. * Public comment period is like talking into a void in that resident input is not taken into account during decision-making * Ditto * City Council mtgs are structured such that it feels our (citizens’) voices aren’t heard * needs to have role independent of the administration *Include some discussion of schools when it effects entire city. *Councilors need to model respectful behavior *Council Committees doing “heaving lifting” on many issues. Public hearings don’t allow for any process *Less conflict of personal & business interest, more representation of residents voices, opinions & needs * ditto *we need real discussions not presentations of what’s been decided. *Use Easthampton model. Have Mayor sit in the audience and respond to questions if asked *Role of chair for council meetings *needs to lead the city’s conversation. Council needs independent legal advise. *No accountability & your words are not important or material * need a “second” city council meeting time for public discussion if possible *An open meeting is not necessarily a public meeting. *Not enough notice in newspaper, not all of the committees are put in the paper like the Human Rights Committee, too little critiicizism of the town hall matters, fed up with constant propaganda, prettiness must go, need leadership not constant kissing up * input is not dialogue, may need “new form” to expand process so civic dialogue happens beyond city councilors & appt govt. officials *citizens need to appreciate that they have chosen limits to their participation by turning over decision-making to vote leaders thru democratic process– *city committees are process rather than issue oriented. Members of city committees have a responsibility to communicate activities and issues to the public. Outward focus *Active citizenship- difference between citizens and consumers-self government is a process not a commodity or a product *(Q) What do we want to achieve as a society, and how can our government be a vehicle for those ambitions?
SMITH OVERLAY DISTRICT
Development agreement contained overlay district-along w/ many other things. It was an all or nothing document. Made it impooible for individual boards to review / decide on components. A very disconcerting document! * Study/ Evaluate Smith’s cash contributions to no hodoes it stack up to other town/gown relationships. * Overturn Dover Amendment * second that * No process around content of development agreement * Smith has a lot of money but we should make them pay more for city improvements and stop letting them bully and act cohersivlely towards the city * Class issues at play in decision of Smith * Change planning board rules on decision-making, problems with “home rule”, problem-mayor appoints planning boad. Public hearings held but not listened to. * Where was the issue of sustainability during this discussion-why isn’t Ford Hall green? *Full issues never fully discussed 1e. Mayor’s agreement * right *decision made before public hearing * a done deal unfortunately
LANDFILL
Use media now to get info out (e.g. # of communities sending trash to N’ton what if any alternative there are, etc * Waste dumps are not sustainable! They are toxic to the environment and becomes more so with the passage of time . They have a huge financial price tag over time. *Consistent information is needed from the planners of this project to the public * reason for this projecvt has not been clearly communicate to the public *it’s our trash and we have a responsibility to deal with it, not shove it off to some other community *keep the dump for us-not outsiders-and we won’t need an expansion *Start mandatory compost program use $ made for city look into bioremediation using plants, fungi, to take up toxin. Great research and educational opportunity *More education about recyeling composting use NCTV.
LEGAL ISSUES
Open meeting laws—committeesstaff * “Home Rule” *disclose the lawsuits against city decisions and the tax payers expense of each *Email? *Charter review * Public hearings too late, too restrictive, not equally fair to both sides *Ditto *Improve outreach to increase diversity on city boards, especially regulatory boards, i.e. Planning Board, Conservation Commission, etc. *City Council needs independent legal advise *Ditto * Boards and committees need to be better informed about legal process and procedures and need to assure citizens have opportunities for input * Open meeting law as practiced impediment to participation * Not enough openness in the govt or coverage of negative aspects of what goes on in govt. * To many at the cost of residents-just do the right thing * What are the legal issues are we getting the best advise *
STORM DRAINS
Evry city household should have access. @make bidding process public on Northampton City projects *city needs more resources. Individual overrides too labor intensive & expensive. Get rid of Prop.2 ! For heavens sakes!
HOTEL
Planning board meetings should be time limited*I want a more cohesive fell to our new buildings and developments to reflect who we are*why doesn’t Northampton have an urban designer working in City Hall*What a good idea!*ditto*I believe we need more openness and less underground discussion and manipulation in all decision making honestly, openness, integrity. *We need to stop being so petty we need jobs, income and we have to stop putting obstructions up to new worthwhile businesses*The city government likes the hotel design and has encouraged this development*I am heartbroken that what will be much a central piece of architecture was not planned with appearance more monitored by our city government*Loss of millions in sales revenue-exclusion of residents*ditto*where was the issue of sustainability during this decision making process? Why didn’t the RFP call for a green building?*Shocking intrusion into downtown Northampton*ditto*Will be the only private building in this very public place, BAD!*We need housing for the homeless “dignity village” in Portland Oregon*generally city council discusses opening and understandably to the general public somehow the water issue was not understandable to the gp whereas the permitting process? There were many public forums on issues surrounding the hotel and results saved to change some aspects of the design but I question whether the permit should have been issued before the public had a chance to way in on the topic* Wished that it wasn’t a chain and was developed by someone invested in Northampton*Get rid of current city planner new ideas, responsiveness-current training* Public involvement started much too late*public is often slow to respond to new issues tend to wait until it is too late*deposition of city property should be done by a much larger, citizen and stakeholder based committee. See for example the citizens advisory committee model still in the ordinance booth*Public needs to educate itself on whole issue*it’s a green building*being “green” also includes human rights*feel loss of control in my own neighborhood. Give me a voice!*find your voice organize in your own neighborhood*what happened to respect*
PULASKI PARK
this should belong to us*did you go to the open meetings??*whats the method of publicizing these?*falling thru the cracks?(pun intended.)*isn’t a park*hurray for greenspace wherever it exist within a city!*more greenspace less concrete*edible landscapes*community bulletin board to get the word out*too fast!*too many activities areas*how has this beautiful space deteriorated into a place for drug dealing?*analyze how children and teens use park*Can’t we find someplace to have an effective community center for adolescents?* what is happening to memorial hall- a city treasure* how relate to Memorial Hall, Academy etc?please pay attention to sustainable landscaping. Lots of turf? Large tree removal?*Role of media in framing issue distinct form information/public notice other formats to communicate openly-both ways distinguish information from communication*Publicly developed plan for park usurped by special interests*especially private for-profit entities*bring back the public commons*communication
LANDFILL
*needs its own policy board to lead much wider public conversation*more aggressive research concerning alternative refuse treatment techniques*Dido*actually look into alternative ways, not just one way*do you want to send your trash to China???*No*the process and the decision making roles should have been clear from the beginning*Pollution of land and water is wrong-if councilors vote for this who is accountable
[MISC]
On cities webpage have a clickable link to a site that would list all city boards and commissions, the work they do, who’s on them, how you could apply to be on one, i.e. what positions are open*ditto*ditto*ditto, but city must expand budget for M.I.S/webservice/etc.*ditto great ideas match the complainers with all the work that needs to be done!*website is not always user friendly-sometimes you have to know how to find what you are looking for*Have a 1x/yr “job fair”/”committee fair” to fill positions on committees, give info on running for office etc.”
