Back To News | Back To The Issues
The Issues
Change City Board
October 4, 2007
October 5, 2007
Dear Friends and Supporters,
As you may have seen on the front page of yesterday's State newspaper, City Council met Wednesday to discuss appointments to various boards and commissions. I attended this meeting and am concerned about the process for these appointments, especially for our land use regulatory boards, including the Planning Commission and the Design Development Review Commission (DDRC).
As I have moved throughout our city's business areas and neighborhoods, I have met a range of talented and interested residents who care deeply about the future of our city and support smart growth strategies to build our 21st century Columbia. It is critical to our city's development that the selection of new appointees reflects a balance of the groups that comprise our city stakeholders. We must not let the viewpoints of a small group, from whatever perspective, determine the future of our city.
It is clear to me that Council must create a better process to attract the best talent for service to our city. The membership of our city boards, their respective occupations, and terms of service should be permanently posted on the city's web site and routinely published in a range of media outlets. We must always ensure an open call for applications and notify all stakeholders of upcoming board appointment openings on a regular basis. Further, we must establish procedures to remove the mystery of the application process including who to contact, how to secure and submit an application, and the deadlines for submission.
I urge you to express your thoughts about balance in appointments, the appointment process, and hopefully your potential interest in service to members of City Council. I have provided a link below with Council contact information and attached an application for city board positions that can be shared with others interested in service.
In closing, I hope you will make plans now to attend the public meetings that begin next week and run through November to provide citizen input into the design of the City's comprehensive plan for growth, the Columbia Plan. The first meeting will be held next Wednesday, October 10th, at 7:00 pm at MLK Park. It is critical that we share our perspectives on important issues of growth and design. Please know that I welcome your thoughts on these and other matters as we work together to build the best possible Columbia.
Sincerely,
Belinda Gergel
View the article from The State newspaper
Contact Council Members
Download an application to apply for a city board position