[Vision2020] Moscow City Council

[Mark Seman]

John,
I think Mike has made a very good point(s) here and I prefer his suggestion
of not limiting the opportunities for public input, but facilitating and
encouraging it as with his suggestion #2.  I like the idea of having an
issue being addressed with a week's time between its' being discussed at the
committee and council meetings - just for the reasons he mentions.  4p & 7p
generally work fine for me as far as meeting times.

Mark
***   *****   ***
Mark & Heather Seman
Full Circle Studios
828 South Washington, Suite B
Moscow, Idaho 83843
v 208-883-3276
f 208-883-0112
FCS@Moscow.com

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-admin@moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-admin@moscow.com]On
Behalf Of Mike Curley
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2004 4:28 PM
To: John Dickinson; vision2020@moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Moscow City Council


... While it sounds like a good thing for
a member of the public to be heard on one occasion, the net effect is that
the person is
going to be denied an opportunity to be heard that is presently provided--at
the
committee.  Although the committees do not conduct public hearings, the
practice has
been to allow interested members of the community a brief time to speak, ask
questions, provide information.  If that is eliminated, what many will see
happening is
that council members will make up their minds at the workshops without
public input.
It really makes more sense to go the opposite direction.  Get all the
available
information on the table as early as possible.

... 2.  Does it make sense to have most matters that are heard at a
committee
meeting be put on the council agenda for the FOLLOWING week rather than the
same
night's council agenda.  Certainly some matters demand immediate attention.
For the
most part though, a seven-day delay is not a problem and provides the
advantage that
staff (and the public and the council members) can better respond to issues
raised at
the committee meeting, committee members have some time to consider and
reconsider what they heard/discussed, and a member of the public who is
interested
but not available on one day has a second chance on another day--or a week
to
research and perhaps to provide written comments.