02-26-18 Informal - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Williams-Preston stated, I think Councilmember Dr. Varner made a very good point in terms of the need to have a strong person that is respected and has background. That really shapes how I look at this. I want to look at grooming people that have an interest like Will Smith, for example. He has been on Community Investment and has a little more understanding of things and maybe even Lori who has plugged herself in before. I would like to think about how we can be proactive about that in the future. We need to get the people that are interested the education they need to get involved. I think it would be great if we could have one (1) Councilmember and one (1) citizen. Councilmember Ferlic stated, I would appreciate the support and I will be supporting Dr. Varner as well. Councilmember Broden stated, I guess this gets to composition to me with one (1)regard. I would like to know if the Mayoral appointments have been made. James Mueller, Executive Director of Community Investment with offices on the 14'h floor of the County-City Building, replied,Marcia Jones has been reappointed.Don Inks with continue on this mar,too. We have been looking to cycle in some new people as well. Quintin Phillips from Notre Dame Federal Credit Union will be a new members this year and will be replacing Kintae Lark. There is a lot of technical expertise needed to be brought to this to be able to ask those important questions. That is one (1)thing we learned with Kintae last year was maybe he was a better fit for some steering committees or other opportunities. That is one (1) of the biggest considerations is, you can throw a voice on there but it is a tough thing to manage if you don't have the full understanding of it. Councilmember Broden followed up, Thank you and that is insightful, I think that should perhaps impact our decision. I would also have to say, it is not just the members of this Commission, but also,in consideration of the staff changes we've funded and made,and the job descriptions relative to those staff changes, I think there could be some impact in some of these questions and areas we've asked our candidates today. I do like what I just heard, a formalized piece of the addition of steering committees. I think looking at this from just the two (2) year perspective and, even prior to coming onto the Council, it does seems as if our staff, as well as our Commission itself, could benefit from greater public input.Not just public input but people who have sector expertise. So I like that and I like the way the Commission is going. Last piece, I do think it is of utmost importance, to me, a real commitment to changing the meeting times. If we can't change the meeting times,to actually have a structural or agenda piece that is there, on a regular basis, where there is public input even prior to votes. A great disappointment of mine in attending these meetings has been the law itself can actually preclude that. I think we can make a big statement with regards to transparency and participation if we enable citizens to actually speak at these meetings. Having their voice heard through public participation, especially in light of the dollars that are segmented away from our General Fund, is critical. I think that will be a way to get some of these individuals who have interest,passion and skill sets better integrated into the process. If I am going to be voting tonight on this, I would actually really like to see a change in the meeting times as well as the communication with us as Councilmembers. 12