Reviewing the Community Engagement Process
At its July 7th meetng the Waite Park Community Council (WPCC) will make recommendations to the City Council and Mayor regarding the restructuring of the citizen participation and community engagement process in Minneapolis.
A copy of "Minneapolis Community Engagement" by a city work group is in the literature rack at the community center. It addresses the adoption last year of the city goals related to citizen engagement, and includes a list of existing citizen engagement activities of City departments.
For the first time, the City Council and Mayor have directed all City Departments to address citizen engagement in the five-year plans they are submitting as part of the city's budget process.
WPCC is the only neighborhood group in Minneapolis that is recognized as a citizen participation organization by all of the following: Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED), the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP), the Park and Recreation Board, and Community Education.
On April 19th theNRP Policy Board allocated $447,124 to Waite Park for Phase II.
In April, CPED informed the WPCC it will receive
$1,371 in citizen participation funds for June through
December.
The citizen participation contract approved by
WPCC on June 2nd requires WPCC to provide notice
to those residents most directly affected by a proposed
development and to hold open meetings at which they
can find out about and comment on the proposed
activity.
The contract provides a maximum of 45 days
for review and comment on a proposed development.
CPED says "it is our expectation that in most instances,
especially for housing proposals, neighborhood review
will require only one meeting."