The comprehensive plan enabling legislation goes before the Common Council tomorrow night (Monday, May 7). (The Common Council meets on the first and third Mondays—ignore the dates on the city website. They're last year's. It always takes them months to update it.)
The meeting will be held at City Hall, on the 2nd floor. There is a "caucus" at 6:30 PM (which will have everyone present, because there are only Democrats on the council) in the court room. Most of the substantive discussion will happen here. The meeting is at 7 PM in the council chambers. There is a public comment period.
I wanted to post the actual text that will be voted upon, but apparently it won't be available until the caucus. Not all that conducive to thoughtful debate or comment. Luckily, my understanding was that only three minor changes to the last version were agreed upon at the committee meeting:
- Clarify the wording to make it crystal clear that the Common Council is doing the appointing, but will appoint 10 on the recommendation of the mayor.
- Add an expected time frame of 18-24 months.
- Add a stipulation that a majority of the appointees will be city residents.
So we have a general idea of what to expect.
If you want to comment on this legislation or the general structure of how the board that will be running this process is set up, this is your last official chance. (Since much is being left up to the board itself, you may be able to weigh in there, but it's unclear if all of their organizing meetings will be open or take comment.) If you are most concerned about getting to weigh in on content, keep your eyes out for the upcoming charette that is part of Albany's SDAT grant, which will probably be your first chance to get into those issues, and which will lay the groundwork for the meat of the comprehensive planning process to follow.
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