Metro Committee for Citizen Involvement Regular Committee

Call to Order & Approval of Agenda

Members Present: Norm Andreen, Kay Durtschi, Dennis Ganoe, Kathy Henton, Dick Jones, Jim Kimball, Ted Kyle, Leeanne MacColl, Darren Pennington, Christine Roth, Pat Russell and Scott Seibert.

Members Absent: Joe Annett, Bob Pung, Ray Sherwood, Meyer Siegel and Curt Winkler.

Others Present: Councilor Rex Burkholder; Pam Peck, Senior Public Affairs Specialist; Lainie Pennington; Cary Stacey, MCCI Staff; and Elizabeth Tucker, MCCI applicant.

Chair Kyle opened the meeting at 7:06 p.m.

Introductions

Chair Kyle asked everyone to introduce themselves for the good of the group.

Approval of Agenda

Mr. Seibert volunteered to be timekeeper.

Hearing no objections, Chair Kyle considered the agenda approved.

Approval of November 21, 2001, Minutes

Mr. Seibert moved to approve the November 21, 2001, minutes. The minutes were approved as presented.

Public Comment

There was none.

Council Liaison Report

Councilor Burkholder spoke to the Council Liaison Report. He said another councilor might be the MCCI liaison next year. He thanked the committee for including him and said he’d learned a lot. Chair Kyle thanked Councilor Burkholder for his commitment to the group.

Auditor Liaison Report

Chair Kyle reported for the auditor’s administrative assistant that there was nothing significant to report.

Community Media Project

Pam Peck, Senior Public Affairs Specialist, described the origin of the project. She said the project would be a new way to engage the public in issues. Metro had specifically funded the production of a pilot program to air on Oregon Public Broadcasting. The documentary piece and related media would specifically relate to transportation and growth management issues.

She showed a video documenting what was completed in the first phase of the project, which was derived from key interviews and focus groups. She listed the key findings from the first phase. She said a Request for Proposal was drafted, which would offer a stipend to three semifinalists to submit a model. The project proposal would be the Public Involvement Plan, which would then be brought to MCCI for feedback. She said production would occur in late spring/summer 2002, and that a finished product should be ready by fall/winter 2002.

Mr. Ganoe asked how this would be a two-way communication tool. Ms. Peck responded that citizens would be involved in making the video, and that there would be opportunities for website involvement. Mr. Kimball asked about the project’s cost to Metro. Ms. Peck responded that a federal grant which some staff time, and that the project was not a significant cost to Metro. She said the payoff for Metro was to reach an audience outside of the usual suspects who normally attend most Metro meetings. Mr. Pennington asked how decisions would be made from this process. Ms. Peck responded that there was no clear answer; this was an experimental process.

Mr. Andreen spoke to the usual suspects and asked how possibilities for two-way communication would be advertised to the broader audience.

Ms. Roth said she thought it was an interesting idea with lots of possibilities.

Mr. Kimball asked for updates before Ms. Peck came back to the committee.

Steering Committee Vacancy

Chair Kyle asked for nominations for the Steering Committee’s vacancy for a member-at-large. Mr. Seibert volunteered. Chair Kyle said the nominations would be open until the next month, when there would be an election.

Chair Report

Chair Kyle reported that he had submitted a letter, a copy of which is included as part of this record, to the Metro Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC) and the Metro Council regarding amendments to Title 8. He said he and Kay Durtschi had expressed their concern regarding citizen involvement opportunities in Title 8 to both MPAC and Council. He said the decision had been held over until January and there might be an opportunity to get involved in the next round.

He reported on the Transition Task Force. He said there had been wide support for advisory committees to report directly to elected officials. He said the direction seemed to be towards a city manager type of government.

He reported on the MCCI Workgroup and the work they had done on the Office of Citizen Involvement (OCI). He said a proposal would address the roles of OCI and MCCI, which would first be shared among the workgroup, then brought to the full committee. Upon MCCI approval, the proposal would be brought before the Metro Council. He said it looked like opportunities for citizen involvement would be more accessible with the new Council outreach structure.

He spoke to the Public Involvement Planning Guide (PIPG) Review Committee and said his goal was to start the group in January, and that draftees were being sought in the Metro agency to work with the committee.

Subcommittee Reports

Mr. Ganoe spoke to the Green Ribbon Committee (GRC) Report. The Council would be coming up with a plan to implement the recommendations and public involvement would proceed form there. He said they had received an update on the Blue Lake Master Plan.

Mr. Pennington reported on the excise tax as potential funding source for GRC recommendations. He said the Regional Environmental Management department was going to produce a PIP on how to reach the underserved population.

Ms. Durtschi said that the Goal 5 PIP in the packet had not yet been approved by the Growth Management subcommittee.

Mr. Jones reported on the South Corridor PIP.

MCCI Staff Report

Ms. Stacey distributed the December 19, 2001, Communications Update, a copy of which is included as part of this record. She announced that Curt Winkler’s membership had been approved by the Metro Council.

Round Table

Ms. Tucker said the airport light rail was well-received by her community. She said that working in the Rose Quarter made her a direct beneficiary of the Passport Program.

Ms. Roth reported that she was on Complete Communities, where they had looked at general information and would focus on environmental issues. She said code enforcement in Clackamas County would undergo revisions to make it more self-supporting.

Mr. Jones reported that he had sat on a different Complete Communities group. He mentioned the acquisition of the Portland Traction property, which had received strong support from his community. He spoke to Channel 8 and the Portland Tribune’s partnership on Coffee Talks. He reported that the Tribune was now online.

Mr. Ganoe reported that the North Clackamas CPO had hosted a representative from his parks district.

Mr. Pennington said he was investing in a condominium in the nearby Cascadian Court. He hoped the Community Media Project would recognize that Metro was for progressive thinking.

Ms. MacColl reported that the League of Women Voters had had a city team give a report on the North Macadam district.

Mr. Kimball said he felt Washington County had intentionally hidden their Goal5 process from citizens. He said he had mentioned to the Goal 5 Task Force that that should be taken into account when evaluating Washington County input.

Ms. Henton said she had attended a Coffee Talk. She said the City of Gresham was looking for citizen involvement benchmarks and asked for suggestions.

Mr. Andreen spoke to the Complete Communities Task Force Committee in Clackamas County and said they were looking at unique and exciting ways to reach broader audiences and include their own communities. Mr. Jones said Clackamas County had received a national award for Complete Communities.

Mr. Seibert said he thought the Community Media Project might work better for other projects. He said he had spoken to people who had attended Coffee Talks who had had positive experiences and wanted to know what the next step was for interactive communication. He said he was curious how the energy created would be sustained. He announced he had moved to Northwest Portland.

Ms. Durtschi said that Presiding Officer David Bragdon hadn’t addressed Metro’s role with Macadam at Sweeney’s Land Use Transportation meeting/Coffee Talk. She said Portland had finished its transportation system program to meet the Regional Transportation Plan.

Adjourn

There being no further business before the committee, Chair Kyle adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m.

Prepared by,

Cary Stacey

Council Assistant