WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. By John F. Bailey. January 19, 2004, Updated 8:45 A.M. E.S.T.: WPCNR has learned Tom Roach and Benjamin Boykin met with Mayor Delfino Tuesday evening and extracted an agreement from the Mayor to allow the Common Council to participate in selecting a Citizens Comprehensive Plan Review Committee which in future weeks will help to hammer out the way the city will continue its development according to Susan Habel, Commissioner of Planning.

Habel disclosed  the information privately to the press that the crisis of jurisdiction as to who would appoint the committee, and how the review and revision of the City Comprehensive Plan should proceed had been solved in a meeting between the three, though she did not report this to the Planning Board with whom she was meeting late Tuesday night. She told the Planning Board at approximately 9:30 P.M. Tuesday evening, as she was presenting her own Review of the 1997 Comprehensive Plan to Planning Board members, that  the Mayor and Council were working on the procedure to review the Comprehensive Plan, but had no idea of what conclusions they had reached.

Rita Malmud, speaking to WPCNR last night before Roach and Boykin met with the Mayor,  said the Council sought collaboration with the Mayor  "between all 7 of us" in reviewing the city comprehensive plan, and the process to do it." Apparently, according to Ms. Habel, this has been done and agreed to by Mayor Delfino. Malmud said the council wanted "collaboration" and any review "has to include the public, as much of it as possible."

Tom Roach and Benjamin Boykin were not available for comment this morning to confirm Ms. Habel's good news, but WPCNR expects to hear from them shortly. The Mayor's Office has made no official announcement of the meeting of the minds.

Glen Hockley, interviewed this morning by WPCNR on the street, said he felt this "detente" was a good thing, saying it was the way it should be in a democracy, and that he hoped some members of the Citizens Plan Committee which precipitated the presentation of Ms. Habel's own "Review" distributed yesterday would be included on the committee the council and Mayor chose.