Agenda - Council - 01/22/1985 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Citizen participation activities must be a part of 'business as Usual." Especially in the case of some of the Council's more ~ifficult projects, the time needed for citizen participation competes with the total a~ount of time available for project completion. Because of tight planning schedules, citizen participation ts 'squeezed tn" as an afterthought. IDENTIFICATION OF CONSTITUENCIES--INVOLVEMENT OF NEW CONSTITUENCIES The Council needs to define its constituency for each regional issue. Different issues attract different constituencies, which, in turn, require different citizen participation strategies. The Council should seek new groups or individuals who previously may not have been involved but ~/no have a stake in a particular issue. The Council has concentrated its outreach and citizen participation efforts on a standard set of organizations. It needs to do more to involve nonmainstream organizations and individuals not part of organized groups. Citizen advisory con~nittees need to be more broadly based. Represen- tation from minorities, low-income persons, handicapped persons, business and labor groups, as well as the "lay" public, should be increased. Minorities and people with low- and moderate-incomes need to be included in Council activities and decisions. Council policy requires equal opportunity in citizen participation. The Council needs to continue to strengthen its affirmative action efforts to ensure equal opportunity in citizen participation. RECEPTIVENESS TO CITIZEN PARTICIPATION/FACILITATING CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Citizens need to know how and wh~re they can have input in Council decisions. The Council's citizen participation plan is a first step toward identifying where responsiblity for citizen participation lies. Making this information available to the public should facilitatemore effective public input in Council decisions. The Council needs to dispel the notion that it is 'elitist.' ll~e Council is perceived as devising only technical solutions to regional problems, thus maintaining itself as the expert on regional issues. Consequently, the 'lay" public is sometimes seen as an intruder into the planning process unlikely to provide useful information. This attitude also affects how the Council deals with the conflict that certain projects naturally generate. If staff feels that technical perfection circumvents conflict, citizen input will be discouraged. The Council's relationship with local governments needs to be more direct. Council members and staff must go out to con~unities more ~ften, rather than relying on written materials or,in-house meetings.