Well, this week is kind of discouraging, its a great example of what not to do (list at the end of the post)!
Monday, June 22, 2009
4:00 PM PUBLIC HEARING: 2009 JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT TOWN OF MADISON TOWN HALL, 2120 FISH HATCHERY RD, MADISON 53713
– How should the police spend their money they get from this grant? My guess is, no one shows up. And even if they do, nothing will change.
5:30 PM ZONING CODE REWRITE ADVISORY COMMITTEE COMMUNITY SUMMIT 211 STATE ST. PROMENADE HALL
– It’s getting closer to a final proposal. Unfortunately, there is so much info, I think it is hard to have a meaningful public process. Especially when they didn’t tell anyone about the meeting til last week. And when the Alders asked on Tuesday how it was being advertised, they said the Mayor was doing a press release. Which went out on Friday . . . wow, you’d think they didn’t want people to show up.
6:00 PM COMMON COUNCIL – DISCUSSION ROOM 201 CCB
– Council leadership gets an “F” in scheduling this. Brilliant, schedule a council briefing for the same time as a Community Summit on the Zoning Code. Or, perhaps they don’t want anyone to see what they are doing with Economic Development (yawn . . . my guess is that they’re doing nothing to address the current economy or create jobs unless they are high end biotech type jobs. Note, the notice says addressing the “business climate”, not the people who suffering as a result.) This article makes it sound like the council will actually make decisions – but I don’t think they can during a “discussion” where quorum is not required.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
12:00 PM PERSONNEL BOARD ROOM 501 CCB
– Here it is folks, the new personnel rules, city staff should be paying attention!
5:30 PM EAST WASHINGTON/CAPITOL GATEWAY BUILD STEERING COMMITTEE ROOM LL-110 MMB
– Holy crap! I wonder if anyone will show up, I don’t think this committee has met in nearly two years, in fact, there are 6 vacancies. Too bad the ordinance isn’t available, I’m sure that will also cut down on the public input. And I wonder if they will get quorum in the summer with all those vacancies.
5:30 PM ZONING CODE REWRITE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MADISON CENTRAL LIBRARY, 201 W MIFFLIN ST, ROOMS 202 & 204
– That’s alot of topics to discuss with a large group in 90 minutes.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
5:30 PM ZONING CODE REWRITE ADVISORY COMMITTEE COMMUNITY MEETING 4340 TOKAY BLVD.
5:30 PM ZONING CODE REWRITE ADVISORY COMMITTEE COMMUNITY MEETING 1625 NORTHPORT DR
– These two agendas look pretty much the same as Monday’s community summit. So, I think they are all the same, but I don’t know why they have different names?
Thursday, June 25, 2009
I got nothing. But that’s ok, you can come to the “People’s Vision for Affordable Housing” at the Public Library at 5:00. We really DO want your input, please!
So, I’m not sure if its a naturally slow week, or if many more meetings will get added to the agenda, but I suggest that you check back later in the week to see if items got missed?
WHAT NOT TO DO
This weeks “what not to do” list.
1. Hold a public hearing with no specific information available so the public won’t have anything to comment on. (Police, East Wash)
2. Take an extremely complex and complicated topic and try to summarize for the public and leave little time for questions. (Zoning Code)
3. Schedule a council briefing AND a community summit on the same night. (Council Briefing on Economic Development Work Plan)
4. Don’t advertise your community meeting in a meaningful way and wait to send out the press release until Friday when the meeting is on Monday. (Zoning Code)
5. Label your events in a confusing manner so people don’t know which meetings to attend. (Community Summit and Community Meetings with same agendas)
6. Appoint a HUGE (over 20 people) committee, don’t meet for nearly two years, then schedule a meeting on a summer evening. (E Washington)
7. Have a meeting about an ordinance that is several pages long and don’t have it available to the public. (E Washington)
8. Schedule a discussion for 90 minutes with a HUGE (over 20 people) committee with a long list of topics that could each be discussed for 90 minutes. (Zoning Code)
