City Council – 22 June 2010

On June 22, 2010, In City Council, Civic Participation, By Grant

Today’s City Council agenda is incredibly long, stretching to sixty items.  Many of the items on today’s agenda were carried over from the June 8th meeting, including all of the items related to the Avon/Dakota neighborhood.  Other than that, there are two items on the agenda that are of critical importance to the goals set out for Anaheim 2060.  First, the City Council is going through its annual appointment process for the City’s various boards and commissions.  Secondly, the City Council is looking at setting standards and guidelines for what time of day the boards and commissions meet.

Besides transportation, the biggest reoccurring theme on this site so far has been civic participation in our governance process.  The City of Anaheim’s boards and commissions are a great way for regular people to get involved in the City’s decision making process. Each board makes recommendations to the City Council regarding a small range of issues.  The thought behind the boards and commissions is not only does it get more residents involved in the process, but the board members and commissioners are able to spend more time than the City Council members are able to and hopefully provide recommendations that are the best thing for the city.

Finally, in my post two months ago, Public Meetings the Public Can Attend, I said, “One way the city can [increase public participation and engagement] is by holding public meetings at a time the public can attend.” At tonight’s meeting, it looks like the City Council is prepared to make our boards and commissions do just that. The City Council will be discussing the times that public meetings are held in order to “provide an opportunity for public participation.” Unfortunately, the staff report for this item recommends waiting to make any changes until the City Council decides whether or not it wants to combine the Budget Advisory Commission, Investment Advisory Commission and the Senior Citizens Commission. However, I see no good reason why combining these three commissions should hold up a directive from City Council that all boards and commissions should meet no earlier than 5:30 or even 6:00 pm.

The staff report indicates that this is a change that Mayor Pringle has initiated.  It is clear, based on the Planning Commissions previous history discussing this issue, that he will face some opposition in this discussion.  Hopefully there will be enough residents that see how this benefits them and their ability to influence what happens at City Hall who decide to show up to support the mayor.  He is likely to need the support.

 
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Public Meetings the Public Can Attend

On April 27, 2010, In Civic Participation, By Grant

One of the primary tenants for improving Anaheim is to increase public participation and engagement in the City’s processes.  One way the city can do this is by holding public meetings at a time the public can attend.  Unfortunately for city staff and our elected and appointed officials, this means that public meetings need to be held in the evening.

A couple of months ago this very question came up before the Anaheim Planning Commission.  The Planning Commission is one of the two most impactful commissions in Anaheim after the City Council itself.  Many important decisions are made regarding Anaheim’s future built environment at Planning Commission meetings.  It is absolutely vital that community members be able to attend and have their voices heard without having to miss work to do so.

Unfortunately, when the Planning Commission addressed this issue, they decided no to move the time of their meeting from the mid-afternoon.  While two of the commissioners did support the move, the other five offered a range of excuses for not wanting to change the meeting time.  Most loudly heard, commissioners did not want to take that time out of their private lives to serve the community.

With that type of attitude towards public service, these commissioners should be removed from office.  It is clear that they are putting their personal concerns over the public good, which makes me question why they agreed to serve on the Planning Commission in the first place.  The City Council should make an effort to stress the need to have these meeting in the evenings.  If the Commission does not voluntarily change their meeting time, the City Council should pass a policy, or even propose a charter amendment, that requires all public meetings to begin after 5:30 pm.

 
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On Civic Participation

On January 11, 2010, In Civic Participation, By Grant

The relationship between the City of Anaheim and its residents has been fairly contentious over the past few decades. Residents see the City as unresponsive, which City staff seem to have the attitude that residents are an obstacle to overcome instead of participants in the decision making process. This status quo will not produce a vibrant and invigorated community. Residents need to be more involved and the City needs to enable residents to become more involved at a time and place their input can make a difference.

Through the late 1970s and into the ’80s, the City of Anaheim, lead by the Anaheim Redevelopment Agency, sought to revitalize the city’s flagging downtown by demolishing what was there and rebuilding. At the time, some Anaheim residents tried to save downtown, but the Agency pushed ahead with its plans despite the objections.

Everybody, residents and City Hall alike, knew that something needed to be done with Anaheim’s downtown. The storefronts had been taken over by adult bookstores, the movie theater showed x-rated films. Many residents wanted a reinvigorated downtown, bringing it back to its heyday from decades earlier. The Redevelopment Agency’s plan was to scrape the existing buildings off the land to make way for something new. The Agency moved ahead with its plans, which unfortunately has turned out poorly.

(more…)

 
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