MCCI Committee for Citizen Involvement Regular Committee

Call to Order & Approval of Agenda.

Members Present:   Norm Andreen, Kay Durtschi, Dennis Ganoe, Kathy Henton, Jim Kimball, Ted Kyle, Keith Parker, Darren Pennington, Pat Russell, Ray Sherwood, and Meyer Siegel.

Others Present:   Councilor Rex Burkholder; John Donovan, Council Outreach Coordinator; Alex Harvill; Lupine Hudson, Parks & Greenspaces Manager of Volunteer Services; MCCI Staff.

Members Absent:   Joe Annett, Gil Cobb, Andy Kelly, Leeanne MacColl, Bob Pung, Scott Seibert, and Shannon Turk.

Chair Kyle opened the meeting at 7:05 p.m.

Introductions.

Chair Kyle recognized new MCCI member Jim Kimball and guest Alex Harvill.

Mr. Pennington volunteered to be timekeeper.

Approval of Agenda.

Approval of June 20, 2001, Minutes.

Public Comment.

Mr. Harvill said he from Northeast Portland, was interested in transportation issues, and had merely come to observe.

Council Liaison Report.

Councilor Burkholder said that two major public involvement efforts were underway.

The following day, the Presiding Officer would bring before Council a request to set up a Green Ribbon Committee (GRC), which would identify a small set of open spaces purchased through the Metro Open Space Program for development, ascertain funding sources, and assist in preparing a measure to bring their recommendations to fruition. Each Councilor and the Executive Officer would make two nominations to that committee. The other public outreach opportunity was at the Washington and Clackamas County Fairs. Mr. Donovan passed out sign up sheets and gave a brief overview of the booth’s activities.

Councilor Burkholder announced he would not attend the August General Meeting, but would ask Councilor McLain to take his place.

Mr. Sherwood asked whether the allotted hours for MCCI still resided under the Executive Office. Councilor Burkholder responded that an amendment to the Budget was required to change it.

Auditor Liaison Report.

None.

Presentation on Parks Volunteer Program.

Ms. Hudson said that the Parks Volunteer Program offered ways for MCCI to get people involved. She gave a brief history of the program, passed out relevant materials, and outlined three main volunteer options:

•  Volunteer workdays. Community members, school groups, at-risk youth groups and other citizens could work in open spaces that were currently closed off

•  Leadership positions. Volunteer Naturalists at Oxbow Park, Smith and Bybee Lakes; Volunteer Crew Leader that help develop projects; and Species Monitors.

•  Volunteer positions. People willing to work with a particular project or staff person.

Amendment to Policies and Procedures.

Chair Kyle referred to the proposed changes and proposed adding a further change of the committee’s name from “Nominating Committee” to “Membership Committee”.

Workshop Proposal.

Chair Kyle spoke to the recommended date of Saturday, September 8, 2001, and suggested that the meeting run from 9am to 3pm in the Metro Building. Mr. Ganoe proposed that the retreat not be a substitute for the regular meeting in September.

Receipt of Written Comments on Staff Support.

Chair Kyle said that survey results would be discussed by the Steering Committee.

Redistricting Citizen Involvement Process Review.

Chair Kyle recognized that the redistricting decisions were final and that charter rules mandated a short process period. He asked for a discussion of public involvement in the process.

Mr. Donovan reviewed the reapportionment process. A resolution established two bodies: a task force of councilors not up for reelection and a citizen review committee, consisting of citizens appointed by each Metro Councilor and the Executive Officer, to comment and advise the task force. The bodies worked in parallel processes because of the short, charter-mandated deadline. At a joint meeting, a recommendation created by a citizen review committee subset was accepted by the task force.

Four public hearings were held to discuss the recommendation. After the second public hearing, an additional alternative was requested by Councilor Burkholder on behalf of his constituency. This became draft alternative D, which was presented at the last two public hearings. After the last public hearing, the task force convened a public meeting and decided to forward alternative D to Council. Letters of notification went out to neighborhood associations, local jurisdictions and interested citizens. After two Council public hearings were held, the recommendation passed 7-0.

Chair Kyle asked what worked.

Mr. Pennington said that since redistricting and other Metro Council decisions were leadership-driven rather than public-driven, the process was successful.

Mr. Andreen asked about the public hearing attendance. Mr. Donovan responded that 25 people total had attended . Mr. Jones said that he and Chair Kyle had attended the first public hearing, that their comments were heard, and a number of changes were made as a result.

Mr. Russell heard no negative response from his area and felt that the process was successful because it was politically supported at local level.

Chair Kyle commended Metro for requesting citizen advice on policy issues. He felt that the Council had tried to provide a lot of opportunities for public involvement, proving better than the legislature in that area.

Mr. Kimball asked what had been done to identify and contact interested groups. Mr. Donovan responded that the Presiding Officer had notified mayors, neighborhood association chairs, advisory committees, and CPO’S – all in all, about 230-240 groups.

Mr. Jones said that draft proposals had gone right to the website. Mr. Russell said that the maps he had seen were easy to read and understand.

Chair Kyle asked what could be improved and how.

Ms. Durtschi said the process should have started up to six weeks ahead to get the word out, and that it was unnecessary to wait until receipt of the census report to start . She said the oversight committee had been disbanded before all the amendments were made. The maps on the website were unclear to the people in her area, and they didn’t receive newly amended information until the day of 3^rd or 4^th hearing. She said that, since the amendments were brought in at will, Metro had violated state law. Criteria had been violated because, although it had been stated that no town center should be violated, her West Portland town center was split in half.

Mr. Ganoe said when he first heard about redistricting, it was at the May 16 MCCI meeting, well after the hearings had occurred. Mr. Donovan said that in order to finish within the charter-established process, the decision had to be made within 90 days after receipt of the census data. The Council could not extend the process, but a fallback process could kick it over to the Executive Office.

Mr. Andreen suggested that time constraints were an issue with citizen involvement. Mr. Sherwood agreed and suggested that MCCI summarize this discussion and attach it to the annual report. Chair Kyle agreed.

Chair Kyle said he saw two things wrong with the process: 1) expectations were not clearly set at the beginning, and they were missed in the end, and 2) The process that Council had to use to conduct business involved bringing changes to their meetings, which made it difficult for citizens to keep informed. He hoped MCCI could help find a solution to this issue.

Election of Membership Committee Members.

Ms. Durtschi said she was willing to continue as a member. Mr. Pennington was nominated. Mr. Ganoe volunteered. Mr. Siegel volunteered. Ms. Henton was nominated. Mr. Sherwood was nominated.

Ms. Henton and Mr. Sherwood were elected.

MCCI Staff Report.

MCCI Staff announced that the MCCI phone was now being directly answered, that updates for the handbook were available, and that the Communications Update and the Friends of Trees information had not yet been received.

Chair Report.

Meeting Schedule and Subcommittee Needs.

Mr. Parker volunteered to join the REM committee. Mr. Andreen volunteered to join both the REM and GM committees.

Chair Kyle said that he would prepare the Annual Report to be presented to the Council. He said he would ask Steering Committee members to bring items to add, and that he would try to have something ready by the retreat.

Round Table.

Instead of the Round Table, Councilor Burkholder addressed the GRC. He said that half the committee would consist of people with relevant parks knowledge and the other half with people who could help organize financial or community support. Mr. Donovan said that the GRC was intended to be part of the public involvement process, which would continue forward to a bond measure or other creative funding. The goal was to establish a set of possible recommendations to go before the Council under an aggressive timeframe. The sunset date of the GRC was still under discussion with the Presiding Officer.

Mr. Ganoe said he believed that calling the GRC an exercise in “citizen involvement” was a misnomer. Councilor Burkholder responded that there had been discussions with elected officials, MPAC members, and citizens about the future of parks, and that the GRC was just one piece of this effort. Mr. Jones said he disagreed, and that the people involved in those meetings were a selected group of people, not members of the general public.

Mr. Kimball asked if funding recommendations would be brought to a vote or decided in Council. Councilor Burkholder said that Council could raise revenue under a $15 million limit, and anything beyond that would have to go to a vote.

Mr. Donovan said that the GRC was equivalent to the citizen review committee for the redistricting process. Any recommendation from that committee would have subsequent public involvement with the Council. He suggested that the upcoming three months be used to actively lobby for additional public involvement in the process.

Chair Kyle suggested that the GRC be very clear on what was likely to change and how after their sunset so that there would be no misunderstandings.

Councilor Burkholder said he would share this information with the Council.

Adjourn.

There being no further business before the committee, Chair Kyle adjourned the meeting at 9:06 p.m.

Prepared by,

Cary Stacey

Council Assistant