WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. Special to WPCNR. February 11, 2005: The first meeting of the Mayor’s Comprehensive Plan Review Committee convened Wednesday evening in the Common Council Chambers to an audience of 9 persons, with all 15 members of the committee on hand.

In the course of the historic meeting that was not attended by Mayor Joseph Delfino, a WPCNR reporter on the scene reports Commissioner of Planning Susan Habel announced there will be a series of  four public hearings held among the city’s neighborhood associations to gather their “recommendations” and “input” on issues affecting their community. Association presidents are to expect a letter inviting them and their residents to participate in the hearings. It was also announced that all the clergy in the city would be consulted. The next time the committee will meet has not been determined. They did however take home a lot of homework.

John Martin, Co-Chair of the Committee, (with Mary Cavallero), said he expected the committee to complete its work in 4 months.

The fifteen members were given a set of indexes prepared by the Planning Department which should make Susan Habel’s  hastily prepared, inconclusive 186-Page 1997 Comprehensive Plan Review and Analysis more navigable as the committee members begin their task of working through Ms. Habel’s review, seeing how far the plan has gone and adjusting the 1997 Comprehensive Plan goals for the five years ahead.

Anne Edwards, committee member, expressed the opinion that Ms. Habel had done a great job on the book. The book was presented January 13.

Intros.

They had an agenda, and Martin and Mary introduced it, and Susan (Habel) had a good deal to say. They were given their background by Sue on comprehensive planning and what it means. She spent quite a bit of time. Surely the people in the committee are trying their best to catch up. They want to set the timetable for 4 public meetings, and clearly feel they have a lot of stuff to digest. They were given copies of the 97 Comprehensive Plan, other packets, all kinds of assurances from Mary Cavallero that it was not necessary to be expert in anything.

Ready to go.

What really came out in the end there, was they were really ready to start going into public hearings. And, here was Eli Schoenberg somehow saying,  wouldn’t we do a better job of understanding what people were talking about in those hearings if we ourselves had a little more time to learn the stuff we’re supposed to know.

Another observer said the committee was ready to start thrashing out the downtown issues Wednesday night, but they opted for more time to consider the material.

A little while later, Louis Trippett steered it a little bit, and people started hanging on to what he was saying. He started to explain what kind of subcommittee system there was last time, instead of just having one meeting where everybody and their kid brother just sort of gets up and complains about everything. That’s what I believe what Sue (Habel) had handed out to Mary (Cavallero) and John (Martin) to make it happen, just to say we’ll give you the stuff people, then we’re going to have these public meetings, then we’re going to get together  and do the report. It’s not come out like that yet.

Thjey had an orientation  meeting, they introduced themselves to each, they learned some of the history of the plan. They got some better idea of what their charge in the task might reasonably be. What needs more work is that they have to become more familiar with the material and they  agreed they’d have to set another meeting merely to continue that discussion so they can set up a process for not only getting the public in general to meet, but they want to send out to not only neighborhoods but areas of interest, the BID, and all that sort of stuff.”

Jim Benerofe, who attended, speaking to WPCNR said Habel made clear why the Common Council did not "adopt" the plan, but instead, "accepted" it. Benerofe said Habel explained to the Committee that if the council adopted it, making the 1997 Comprehensive Plan "law," they would have been obligated to overhaul all their zoning to conform to it, and that was why the plan was "accepted" and not adopted, to give the city more flexibility.

Another WPCNR reporter on the scene said that when Ron Jackson, one committee member asked what authority the committee actually had to set priorities, he was met by silence.

Conspicuous by his absence was Mayor Joseph Delfino who made no appearance. No explanation was given for his whereabouts. Commissioner of Planning Habel and Eileen McCarthy (“The Trusty Secretary of the Planning Board”), were city liaisons to the meeting. Rod Johnson, the Deputy Commissioner of Planning was in attendance.

The members of the committee are: John Martin, Mary Cavallero, Co-Chairs; Patrick Austin, Steve Brown, Guy D'Antona, Ann Edwards, Virginia Falzarano, Vito Fragala, Ronald Goldstein, Ron Jackson, Carlos Roskell, Eli Schoenberg,Louis Trippett, Isabelle Villar, and John Vorperian.

Our observer reports that mention was made by Ms. Habel that “we have to get notice of these meetings out, we should be on Bailey’s (The CitizeNetReporter)."