This morning, I was calling today “Snarky Friday” based on my snarky postings this morning. But now . . . I’m steaming mad. So I probably should not be blogging! Warning: you might not want to read if you’re adverse to strong opinions, this might not be considered “nice”.
Q: Guess what topic?
A: The clusterfuck that is the CDA project on Allied Drive.
So, here’s the sequence of events that makes me a little nuts.
1. We (the council and committees) passed the resolution for the CDA to work on the Allied Drive project last last fall.
2. We wait, and ask questions, and we wait and we don’t get answers.
3. On Thursday, the CDBG Commission was going to get a “staff update” on the project. My understanding was that the update would come from the CDBG staff.
4. I ask a bunch of questions and am told by staff that the CDBG commission is going to have a joint meeting with Housing next Wednesday and that is when they will be discussing the project.
5. I don’t go to the CDBG Commission meeting.
6. The CDBG Commission gets a full presentation on plan A & B and actually vote on at least one aspect of the plans – the connection to Fitchburg. They discuss it for a whole hour.
7. Brenda is not happy – as I would have gone to the meeting if I had any indication that there would have actually been a substantive discussion.
Cut to Friday morning
1. It’s 11:30 and I pull up the CDA meeting agenda to find out where the meeting is, but lo and behold – it says the meeting is CANCELLED.
2. I call the city clerk’s office and they confirm that yes indeed, as of about 15 minutes after 10, the CDA meeting was cancelled.
3. I email Brian Solomon and Stuart Levitan to find out what happened, then pick up the phone and call Brian as well.
4. At about 11:50 Brian calls me back and says that the meeting is cancelled due to lack of quorum, but there is still a “staff” meeting.
5. I extract myself from what I was doing and rush down to city hall and find this:
6. However, open the door and you will find a room full of 20 – 25 people, including city staff and consultants, but also members of the public, members for various committees and the press.
7. The meeting, chaired by the chair of the CDA, goes on for almost 2 hours.
8. During the meeting, decisions are made, consensus is reached and the project moves forward.
Now, why am I unhappy? Several reasons. But what has me angry is not really about me. It’s about the public and the disregard of the public by the (a?) staff/members of the CDA. By all indications, there have been no meetings on Allied Drive in the past 24 hours. In reality, there have been some pretty significant meetings. I’ll have to fill you in on the details at some point when I have more time . . . but meanwhile, still no numbers about how affordable the units will be. And a significant question about how many units there will be.
But, most important for now, I think there are some significant questions about following the spirit, if not the letter, of the open meetings laws.
