To: Community Forum for Economic Development
From: City of South Bend Redevelopment Commission
Subject: Public Involvement in Economic Development
Date: August 3, 2007
First, let us thank you for having the interest, and taking the time to provide us with your suggestions for improving our processes to provide the public access and information regarding the Redevelopment Commission’s work. Our responses to your suggestions will demonstrate that we share like values in regard to public participation.
In order to make our responses clear to a reader that may not have seen your original communication, we have taken the liberty of including your original text, and highlighting our responses in bold type.
Again, thank you for your interest and we look forward to working with you as we implement the changes indicated in the letter.
Response to Questions from Community Forum for Economic Development
1) Make it possible for the public to understand what is happening at Commission meetings.
1 a) Make agendas of upcoming meetings available in a timely fashion.
We applaud the Commission’s procedure to make its agendas available to
the public and to post them on its website. It would be best, though,
if these agendas could be published at least several days in advance of
the meeting.
Response:
We will begin posting on the City’s website preliminary agendas on the
Friday prior to the regularly scheduled meeting. These agendas may be
updated prior to the regular meetings, but we will make sure the
preliminary agendas are as complete as possible.
1b) Make minutes of past meetings available in a timely fashion.
Again, it is commendable to post minutes of past meetings on the
Commission’s website, but if relevant minutes are not posted in time to
be read before upcoming meetings, their value is diminished.
Response:
We will post draft minutes on the City’s website as early as possible before the regular scheduled meeting.
1c) Make agenda items and meeting minutes understandable to the public.
It is of little use to publish agendas and minutes if their content is obscure and fails to disclose important information.
For example, many members of the Community Forum supported the
inclusion of LaSalle Square in the Airport Economic Development Area,
and remain very interested in this issue. After the Commission’s
October 20,2006 meeting, it seemed that the Commission did not discuss
this issue again until its May 3, 2007 meeting with the South Bend
Common Council. However, an item on the Commission’s January 19,2007
agenda states the following:
"Public Hearing on Resolution No. 2300, a Supplemental Appropriation
Resolution of the South Bend Redevelopment Commission. (AEDA, Airport
Economic Development Area Allocation Area No. I)." To the public, it
was not clear that this item had anything to do with LaSalle Square.
But apparently this resolution explicitly raised the possibility of
appropriating an unspecified amount of money for LaSalle Square.
Response:
We have already started adding explanatory language to make agendas
more understandable, and will begin to do the same with the minutes.
2) Disclose important information to the public.
2a) Publish relevant information on the Commission’s website.
If the public could have examined this resolution easily before the
January 19, 2007, it might have been aware that it had something to do
with LaSalle Square. It would also be beneficial to post on the
Commission’s Web site resolutions, development agreements, and other
relevant documents passed by the Commission.
Response:
We will attempt to publish relevant resolutions, development agreements
and other documents on the City’s website to the extent possible. Due
to the large number of these documents the City’s website may not have
the capacity to provide ready access to all documents. However, we will
maintain those documents in our offices for individuals wishing to
review them, or make copies of them.
2b) Take positive steps to provide relevant information to the public:.
Given the public interest in LaSalle Square, the Commission could have
indicated that it was considering appropriating money for LaSalle
Square. It also could have said how much was being considered. It was
only on May 3, 2007, at a South Bend Common Council Community and
Economic Development Committee meeting, that it was announced that the
Commission was considering spending $500,000 per year for LaSalle
Square.
Response:
While all appropriations, including the ones for LaSalle Square are
done in a public setting after public advertising, we understand that
more could have been done to bring this to the attention of all those
involved with LaSalle Square. It may not be practical for us to widely
disseminate, beyond the legally required public notice requirements,
all appropriations, but we will try to more broadly disseminate those
of higher public interest.
3) Provide ways for the public to have meaningful input into Commission decisions.
3a) Establish formal procedures for the public to shape substantive Commission projects.
Even more important than announcing its decisions, the Commission
should involve the public in its decision-making process. In moving
forward on LaSalle Square, the Commission should solicit public
opinion. What do residents in the area and other members of the public
think about the amount of money being considered? What projects is the
Commission considering and what is the public’s view of that
investment? There also should be a formal way for public input to be
incorporated into decisions concerning the future of LaSalle Square and
similar projects. This particular suggestion might be seen as
inefficient and time-consuming. It is certainly a departure from the
norm of how business is usually conducted. But it is of fundamental
importance. Public involvement is essential to good governance. The
people who are affected by economic development decisions should have a
seat at the table.
We have discussed these issues with Commissioner Hardie Blake and have received positive feedback and ideas.
Response:
We certainly agree that residents, businesses and others in the LaSalle
Square area should be involved in the planning for that area. This is
not a departure from the norm of how we usually conduct business. All
of the Redevelopment Commissions plans for the past 20 years or more
have been done in conjunction with neighborhood and business
involvement and input. One of the most recent was the Northeast
Neighborhood Development Area. The neighborhood organizations there had
themselves been through a multi-year planning process which culminated
in a final plan adopted in its entirety by the Redevelopment Commission.
We will continue to follow our normal business practice of
involving neighborhoods, businesses and other organizations in the
City’s planning efforts.
Some other specific suggestions:
3b) Allow for public input on items being considered by the Commission.
Some reasonable allowance could be made for members of the public to
ask questions or provide short comments on important issues, even
outside the Commission’s formal hearing process.
Response:
The Redevelopment Commission has already started to take comments from
the public, outside the Commission’s formal public hearing process. The
presiding Commissioner has discretion to recognize individuals who wish
to speak on important issues. Several people have taken advantage of
this opportunity over the last few months.
3c) Provide a "public time" at the end of Commission meetings.
The South Bend Common Council has such a procedure. The Commission could also.
Response:
Let’s work with changes noted above which provide better public access
and input to the Redevelopment Commission, then see if this is needed.
Better and timelier agendas and minutes, and opportunities to comment
on significant issues during meetings, along with public hearings, and
the opportunity to communicate with the Commission by letter and email
provide several opportunities for the public to participate in
Redevelopment Commission decisions.
3d) Hold at least some meetings at times that allow more members of the public to attend.
Ten o’clock on a weekday morning is impossible for many people. Perhaps
some meetings could be held during the lunch hour or at other more
convenient times.
Response:
Let’s work with changes noted above which provide better access and
input to the Redevelopment Commission, then see if this is needed.