Center of the City - Council of the Commons Meeting 7/1/21

001and do a uh call the meeting order do a roll call vote a roll call rather and remember that everybody has to specify uh where they are at uh geographically what municipality they're in um heather could you take us through that sure stephen is not here jennifer jennifer cornell present and i am participating from central lake michigan oh my gosh nice about eight miles away alan i am here in ann arbor sarah aaron ann arbor jeffrey jeff honey i'm here in now arbor camilla you're from san carlos california rita here from ann arbor alice here from ann arbor michigan frank uh here from eastport michigan adam all right adam here in ann arbor and then tom is not here and erica here and then all right um so we have an agenda uh that everyone

002um received a copy of and i was put out recording in progress sorry it has been recorded already by ctn but i also like to do zoom recording as a backup perfect um and so we have an agenda um that does put out uh is there any amendments to the agenda alan yes i want us to consider an amendment to the bylaws to allow three-minute public comment at the beginning and two minutes is too short and this was not able to be discussed when we initially passed the bylaws and so i would like us to be able to reconsider the bylaws to uh extend the time to three minutes so alan do you want to make an amendment to the agenda to have us reconsider the bylaws tonight or are you looking to really like

003to reconsider the bylaws tonight so that we could have in our subsequent meetings a three-minute time and if we could do it tonight we could there could be three minutes at the end of the meeting also i would hope what is that status of the bylaws in terms of their acceptance by they're going to city council at the next meeting so they haven't been in front of city council yet and i'm not sure how that would work it might be as simple as me contacting the attorney if you do decide to amend the bylaws it might be as simple as me of contacting the attorney he makes the change and then it still goes in front of city council at the next meeting or it might be some big thing that we have together i'm

004not sure but my hope is that it would just be simple if you decide to go that route okay uh alan do you want to make a motion on your amendment yes i move that we extend the bylaw that we request in whatever way it can officially be done the two minutes that the bylaws on public comment be changed from two minutes to three minutes and you want to add that to tonight's agenda i so move if this is the time to move it okay that's can we get a second okay all right uh all in favor of adding uh allen's amendment to the agenda raise your hand any opposed okay all right uh and then could we get a any any other amendments to the agenda okay um could we get a motion to

005move the amended agenda motion second all right second by frank um all in favor of moving the amended agenda favor okay all right so um alan we'll we'll find a spot on here that we can discuss the amendment that you want uh and you want to actually vote on i'm amending the bylaws here um thank you yep uh so uh next item on the agenda is the approval the minutes from last time questions on the minutes uh rita just say that um i looked for the minutes yesterday and did not find them and so i've only just skimmed them um so it's a little concerned that i have yeah and it's a rightful concern because it was in fact not showing up as attached it looked it appeared to be attached but it wasn't actually

006linked so alan pointed that out to me today so it is fixed now and i apologize for that because people did not have a lot of time to look over the amendment would it uh is it possible that we could come we could approve the minutes next time uh for two meetings ago just to ensure is that a formality that we could just get through that way we don't dwell on it i think so okay i think that's probably okay i think that's works yeah okay any objections to that okay all right uh we'll keep going then i think we're on to uh public comment uh i know we have at least one person with our hand raised um are there others with their hand raised hillary um no just eric oh no we've got

007two hands raised so i'm gonna allow eric to talk um about to talk so eric you should be able to talk and i will time you for two minutes okay thanks for letting me speak i'll talk extra fast since three whole minutes is too much really two minutes council allows three minutes are we afraid of an overload of community input so thanks for discussing that and thanks to alan for putting it on the agenda next counselor uh briggs kudos to you for actually starting the ball rolling as far as actual funding for this project that the voters voted to put forward and somehow it was zeroed out in the budget before come on i appreciate that that was a thank you for doing that and facilitating that i think there's some problems with the wording

008but it's a good start the step uh a good step finally something and i hope this is my final statement and i i hope uh that something will actually happen soon on that parking lot that it will now become a public space and not a parking lot it's isn't it time now the council is getting its great high rise which no one objects to on the y lot that's the perfect place it doesn't shade anything it's not public well it is publicly owned but it's that's the spot that's great build a big building there connect it to the to the parking structure but uh start doing something please on the library lot how many more committees do we need so thank you for the input i appreciate it um i just you know i'm a

009person i'm getting old i'm getting impatient about these things so i apologize if i was harsh but uh so that's i that's your charge get something done please thanks a lot i'm sorry i'm gonna have to leave early i've got another engagement but again thank you for letting me speak thanks eric all right and then robert black you're up next you should be able to talk thank you heather and thank you for this opportunity to speak before you again tonight um concerning agenda item 8 july 7th near-term activation discussion i support you in preparing well in advance of that meeting and that you set clear outcomes for that important first working session the questions you will raise in tonight's meeting along with questions i shared previously with chair zemke vice chair ralph and miss seiferth

010could be answered and distributed to council members prior to the working session reviewing this background information in advance allows more effective use of the limited time of the working session and will lead to productive discussions towards desirable outcomes concerning agenda item 9 subcommittees i invite you to explore the recommendations from the task force report but also review the subcommittee's garden outreach etc already created by the talented professionals of the initiating committee over the past 16 months their work can be merged effectively into the council of the commons creating a strong subcommittee structure now will guide progress toward your near-term objectives and i want to integrate reiterate lastly a third issue concerning process that i have raised at prior meetings we are still in the groundwork phase in creating an ultimate vision for this important project

011we are not yet at design phase however visions of potential future scenarios that can stimulate our collective imaginings at this point are still valuable norm tyler sketches in the task force report other professional visions from prior work on this site and recently another possible vision eloquently rendered by mr trendoff a nationally recognized expert of future visions all these imaginings are important to inspire us about what could be we can honor these visions now for what they are catalysts to an incredible future for ann arbor they help us imagine specific physical elements of the commons and establish a meaningful basis from which to engage critical partners of the commons bloc and to prepare rfps seeking professional guidance in the next phases of the work have a productive meeting tonight and thank you thanks mr black and

012then odile has a hand up so a deal you're coming up next you're muted hello hello all it's nice to see you assemble the game i wish you for a good meeting i said to every one of you just like you that three of us from the initiating committee made for the earth day of anardor he was presented then during that thursday and i hope you can look at it and we have also spent about 250 hours in making a garden next in the middle of the lot on the left of the elevator and also on the side anyway i hope you will go there and look at the beautiful flower and the 75 sunflowers that are growing up thank you bye bye thank you thank you any other public comments all right um so

013uh the next item is uh member news and updates um why don't we uh open it up to any members who would like to say anything and then maybe if we could at that point before we get into roles we could um uh add in uh ellen's amendment uh to the agenda and and have quick discussion then um if that's amenable folks but any uh member news or updates right yeah i would just like to echo some of the comments that were made by uh people calling in i um i i'm feeling a increased sense of optimism and momentum for this project and again um thanks to erica for stepping forward in such an important way uh as i talked to others in the community they're uh pleasantly surprised that the city has stepped forward

014and that this is hopefully the beginning of a strong partnership between the community and the city government i'm trying to read my notes here we we're continuing to make uh some progress uh our private fundraising total is up to 7 47 000 we've gotten a new 5 000 pledge um again a a this individual uh i think was motivated by the city uh making uh its commitment uh initial commitment to this project um and i i wanna uh thank uh robert black uh he was in town met with a number of us um for his enthusiasm and lending his expertise to this i you know i i don't know uh stefan trendoff uh very well at all but i i want to thank him uh again it's sparking and stimulating our collective imagination uh in

015in no way uh is steph fun or any of us saying that that this is somehow the path forward his his conceptions and his drawings but it does stimulate interest in conversation and focus uh the community's attention on this important project thank you thank you frank uh alice i think you had your hand up too oh you're muted alice just briefly i saw um i think it was on m live i'm not sure uh i think it was written by ryan stanton uh sort of a profile or a feature piece or whatever you want to call it about steven trendolf or stefan randolph and his drawings i think uh reading it and being on this commission or this council uh when i read it i thought well is he speaking for the council is he

016speaking for the public through the council who is he speaking to and what do we do what do these persons do there it seems like there's a conflict a public um conflict of the source and purpose of the information i don't know you know like if one of us were to present something unrelated to the council on the commons i think we would be up for criticism or something i don't know because something was slightly odd or disconcerting about that article just in that it didn't really mention the council on the commons much and um it was all about stefan and um and those drawings to me which you know i have a pretty good eye for these drawings were a little bit confusing so that's all i wanted to say i think it's important

017to recognize that we have to be clear about our own messaging and not let it be overtaken by um one or another's interest that may not coincide with ours definitely thanks alice any uh other comments okay um then in that case moving along if it's okay if there's no one else commenting i certainly want to comment on behalf of the initiating committee in general and to respond a little to alice's perception of stefan's drawings which represent first of all the initiating committee and i wish that in some way we would have a regular report of the ongoing activities of the initiating committee but we have uh formalized our nonprofit uh status as a michigan corporation and established a bank account and uh become formal and we formalized our 501c3 relationship with the library green conservancy

018so we are now in a position to be a fundraising element for the actual implementation of the uh recommendations of the task force and activation of the space however that might come forward and um yeah the drawings it so that that's a new news the drawings that stefan produced i encouraged him to do that as i had when we met in 2009 and in 2010 he produced a set of imaginative perspective even before the underground parking was completed and uh one of those drawings was uh as an image was circulated as a possible to give a visual sense of how this community commons could develop it was circulated during the campaign petition campaign which became proposal a and was eventually passed so this is not a new entry though he is an independent uh graphic

019designer and i asked him would he look at all the material that had been developed so far the physical elements the other elements and see if he could make a a collage of what he has heard to be to stimulate the community imagination not to end the discussion but to begin it because a visual representation of what are the elements is a good beginning point for scene for engaging community imagination in as many forms as it can so i see this and stefan saw this and i think he represented it in the article in the uh m live as a beginning point for community imagination and um i am glad he he did that this is a uh and we have uh i would we have not really circulated this beyond the uh what was

020in the m live which you only could see if you were kind of a subscriber it was a uh restricted to subscriber article but i would like that people to actually look at these and let your own imaginations be stimulated and uh see it more further for further uh pollinated proliferated as a way of engaging the public to see so what what do we want to change what new ideas are there let's see let's uh begin to engage the imagination so i'm very grateful to his work it is not to preempt anything that it is to give some visual impetus to the imagination now the guard the work on the garden has been mentioned and i think that's one of the things the initiating committee has undertaken and i hope everybody will go by there

021and and uh give a blessing to the flowers by the way by the elevator both to the east of the elevator and particularly to the north of the elevator and anybody that wants to get their hands dirty and is welcome to help weed there's a program set up for the summer that the garden group of the initiating committee has set up to take care of the weeding and the watering we did work with the dda to get the irrigation system uh functioning again and the dba has been cooperative and closing the lot to parking during the times that gardening is going on uh so we also have experience that the city does survive with a lot close to parking so i guess that's that is enough of a beginning report from the initiating committee there

022are more things that we could uh talk of but it's an ongoing group with its uh various subcommittees and uh is a partner in this whole process and that's why two people from the initiating committee are specifically designated as members of the uh of the uh council of the commons and i had suggested that while this individual member time is adequate in some way to give representation of what's going on in the initiating committee i think it would be desirable if beyond what individuals are doing that the initiating committee itself was given a time to report to the council of the commons we are linked together in the 2000 uh [Music] the last october uh resolution october five of last year that established both the initiating committee as an on the ground working group and

023the council of the commons as an advisory group to the city council and in some way from our work on the ground we are advisory to the council of the commons and we should all be seen as a hand and glove together that's my comment thank you thanks for me and for the initiating committee jeff yeah um i i just want to uh as a member of the initiating committee and also of course the council of commons and the library green conservancy i just want to reassure everybody on the council of the commons from my perspective that the initiating committee you know participated in the creation of the council of commons and i personally see us very much as but i i i see very much the council of the commons as being an outgrowth

024of the the initiating committee and and you know created by the by the city council but the initiating committee really is i would say uh very much respectful of the council of the commons and from my perspective we want to be very integrated with your uh or our if i could put on my counselor comments hat desire to uh be very inclusive about community input not to preempt any outcomes or decisions about how this evolves and to be collaborative and helpful by you know feet on the ground and working to you know staff and participate in in working groups okay uh and and and to to not be uh perceived hopefully as adversarial or you know some kind of threat or some kind of preemption machine or something like that none of that from my

025perspective uh i am completely respectful of the council of commons and will do go the extra mile to accommodate any concerns the council has um and uh so you know that's that's that's one of the people to be clear about that i also want to remind people that even though alan was um you know somehow connecting the the initiating committee with stefan tremdoff's drawings that was not a decision by the initiating committee that stefan uh would do those drawings or to you know transmit those drawings in in any particular direction and as as far as i know the initiating committee did not have anything to do with that m live article and i was not aware of that m live article in advance so i just wanted everybody from my perspective to hear what i

026had to say about it thanks that's that's all completely true this was me and stefan our old friends and he's been connected with this project from its beginning as an individual okay miller thanks adam yeah i'm gonna be more vocal today um during this meeting because like many other meetings um it's already been dominated by initiating committee members and i would love to hear other people's voices um so i just want to put that out there first and foremost um yeah i want to respond to alan jeff and also agree with what alice has initially offered to the group um i agree that the m live article could have had the impact of misinforming the public um we have not asked for any rfps yet and yet we already have members of the public creating

027illustrations and architectural renderings and then sending it out to the public and that's that's confusing even even for me as part of the council of the commons um i also just want to urge the um initiating committee members that while it's great to encourage community visioning uh these drafts are not supported by the council of the commons members um the council of the commons at large as an entity nor uh city council and we should be careful about the language that we use when we use words like we uh to encompass groups of people i have very different desires than alan and sometimes words can get tangled up and we're projecting our desires by conveying that they're the desires of the entire council of the commons so that's been frustrating to me um i just

028also want to say that i'm trying to read between the lines and i just really don't understand how um how initiating committee members can continue to preach about um their efforts when your actions aren't going through a democratic process um the group is still very small to my knowledge and it represents a very specific demographic um so i just want to call that out thanks camilla and i would like to i'd like to make sure that uh i have some thoughts on um the the article that was in m live and uh things but i i think i'd like to bring those up during kind of roles because i we've had roles on the agenda for a couple of times now and i think it's certainly based on everything that's happened in the last couple

029weeks uh high time that we talk about him so um unless there are any other points here i would like to yeah jeff sorry uh i i just wanted to uh to respond to camilla um i totally sympathize with her perspective uh i would however like to ask her if you have people that would like or know people who would like to join the initiating committee i and everybody else on that committee as far as i know would be delighted to receive and have them join we are totally open you know i mean there's a lot of work involved here and a lot of people aren't willing to make the effort to go out and do the gardening or to spend time in meetings or to organize fundraising you know we're all doing this on

030our own time and making an effort and i'm sorry that there's a certain demographic and we would be delighted to have more people so if you can bring other people in uh to us we would be happy to put them in in prominent roles in in the in in the initiating committee but you know somebody's got to get this done and we've been doing stuff and nobody else has been doing stuff and we've been doing our homework and nobody else's or a lot of very few people have done their homework so again i'm i'm totally sympathetic to your views and i hope that you can bring people to us we'd be happy to receive them thanks okay council member breaks thanks um i i'd like us to be a little cautious that when we're amongst

031this group we are in my sense is that we are wearing the hat of of a city commissioner um and we're representing um we're representatives of the city in this group i know that's a little confusing i've worn a lot of different hats in the community before and so um it's it's difficult especially when members of this group represent are here sitting here representing members uh different organizations and so it's important to bring bring those reports forward from other groups but i would like us to be careful not to use this as an opportunity to maybe recruit for other for non-profit organizations or anything different things like that i just think we have to be real careful about um thinking about what this platform is so i just want us to caution um kind of

032how we use this discussion time thank you erica any other member comments alice just briefly i think one way that each group that may be a separate group from the council on the commons but may want to report we can accept written reports at any time and those can be attached to any agenda meeting meeting agenda and i think that would be a highly appropriate way to say way that city council received reports from other commissions we can receive reports from other groups and that would be highly useful but to take our time our limited time but at a meeting of this group is i agree with erica we need to be cautious about the use of our time and the direction that our discussion goes thanks all right thanks ellis okay um in that

033case we're gonna move on uh and for our amended agenda um alan you made a motion to have uh an amendment to the bylaws i think we probably need to make sure we have the language uh figured out on this uh so that we can uh take a vote if it's so moved and amend the bylaws heather what is the process for for doing that in terms of our make a motion tonight saying that you wanted to amend the bylaws and then um i will figure out how that actually works with our attorney like i said before i think it could possibly just be a very simple change before it goes in front of city council but if you i mean if that's what you want to do you would you would make a motion

034and approve that tonight and then i'd figure out how that happens okay ellen do you want to make a motion yeah the motion would be to change the number two to the number three in the bylaw that rep refers to public comment time at the beginning at the end of the meeting okay second for that uh motion second all right and uh all in favor of alan's motion uh say aye raise your hand all right are you opposed all right alan the motion carries hey it worked i did i'm excited i eric lipson will be excited too all right thank you alice you have your hand just insert a comment uh i hope we don't have to limit our own speaking time for three minutes if we could all individually keep ourselves to three minutes

035to start with it might help us get through a meeting alice i will yield the balance of my time to even all right um okay so let's get into rolls because i think uh there was certainly some feelings that were brought up during the um during the membership member updates and speak to some of these roles and you know and certainly we have a couple of groups represented a couple of external groups i guess now we can officially say non-profit groups that have representatives here we've also talked about other um a little more ad hoc groups including members of a block ownership building ownership committee or something it's it's probably far beyond time that we identify and i do think the article actually spurred a really important debate um certainly i understand there's some hard

036feelings i can tell you i got a call asking uh why we did not hold a public meeting um where the drawings were presented uh in insinuating that what the meeting that the drawings were presented at was a public name and i corrected the individual and said that's not accurate we haven't seen the drawings in fact i have not seen the drawings and so um i think to some of the points that maybe camilla maybe erica made it is very important that we establish how we as a city uh commissioned advisory council establish under take in information and communicate uh externally where we're representing because i think there are a lot of folks that misinterpreted the meeting at which uh mr trendoff presented the the drawings to be a representation of this body and obviously

037that's not the case and uh you know and so it's it is very important that i think we uh establish what those goals are around the initiating committee and and the city has uh around the chain committing the library green conservancy those are two nonprofits now um and other non-profits frankly and i think we should probably have a standardized process for how we're going to do this because that will ensure that we're fair and equal to all non-profits uh in the community so those are my thoughts on this in terms of roles how do we how do we feel is best to take in information how do we want given that we do have a couple of representatives from a couple of non non-nonprofits on the committee who are according to the um the charter

038of this commission there to to bring that voice to the table how do we want to make sure that we have a formal um establishment of how we're going to receive information from external nonprofits and other community groups and then how do we want to ensure that that our roles of certainly the library and conservancy and the initiating committee as two external nonprofits who have representatives here are part of this so i'd like to start that discussion erica um i really liked alice's suggestion in terms of having written reports coming in i think that's a good efficient use of our time in terms of um being able to read information ahead of time and um i mean i do i like the member of dates at the at the beginning this meeting but i do

039think it it is um utilizing a fair amount of our time where we have pretty limited time each month to be able to um kind of move forward the work of this commission and so um i'm not sure if that's the most productive use of our time unless there's something a particular note that that needs to be presented very good sounds good other thoughts frank thank you muted sorry uh i i second that i i i think uh written written reports in advance would be useful it would uh uh inform our our conversations and discussions and would uh you know provide more time for the for the council to actually have interaction um so i think it's i think it's a good idea um yes i agree with that and i also um ask that

040we set a time frame um by which information is prepared and presented to heather to be included so that we have it it's really helpful that way thank you rita seems like we've got a fair amount of support for your idea alice um me yeah i agree with it as well yeah well if for instance so a piece of information came into the world with stefan's drawings should that properly have been uh presented sent to the council of the commons and his the the reason it was an article is because he has a relationship with ryan stanton he walks his dog they're old friends so ryan wanted to do an article on him and this was a an opportunity and ryan is interested in this and sort of covering it all but should that material

041then come to the council of the commons so that we can evaluate it or should it come to the facilitated meeting how does it inter intersect with our official process so i'll just speak for myself uh in this regard i think you know if uh i mean i i'm not an artist uh and certainly nothing by comparison to mr trendoff but if i drew some sketches and i was a member of this council i think it would probably behoove me to send them to the council you know prior to a group particularly a non-profit that had representation on the council um you know receiving a uh a hearing about it i think that would have been um a heads-up type of thing um and then i could get in the hands of everybody here which

042means it would then be added to the communication public communication um and i think to the point that camilla made around the democratic process for this having uh having that the uh how we're receiving information that have become part of the public uh debate is very important at least to me and um i think also then um you know ensuring that the that that uh you know there are always going to be groups the people who get together uh to do certain things obviously the gardening is another great example where folks have gotten together and pictures have been shared your wife sent in pictures uh prior to this meeting ellen and uh and i think that's a wonderful it's just nice if there is some transparency around those types of things given that we're all

043on one body here obviously if it were a group that didn't have any uh direct representation here um if they wanted to send us something that would also be wonderful but uh but i feel like it's we're sort of at a heightened level of standard when it comes to this because we're all here and and i think it's my goal for all of us to con develop consensus around something and uh and that would help my opinion should these pictures be sent sent put into a powerpoint or something and sent to all of us on the council of the commons i think that would be fine however they want to be communicated be helpful obviously if you would send them yeah if you would send them to me and then i can attach them to

044the next agenda and then that way they can be visible to the public as well good is that what people want i think that they i think that what we're hearing from several folks uh this evening is it's it's important that if there is in particular for um the two nonprofits that have representatives here the green conservancy and the initiating committee that that type of thing is very important for members here who are not part of those organizations to if there's something dealing with the lot the space that we're all talking about that we know uh so that it feels transparent to the public but it also feels transparent to us um so that would be my opinion well i i will facilitate that that's if that would seem desirable to me as well uh

045and i apologize if i among the various yarmulkes i wear is on here on the initiating committee and on my friendship with stefan and being seeking to encourage him to continue his imaginative integration of the many things he has seen as a citizen living in ann arbor observing the ongoingness of this whole thing and now and then be out there and people could do with it what they like i hope that we can really see it as a stimulation to the imagination of what other images there are maybe develop a competition of artists in the taubman center and the public schools to get more and more efforts to integrate the vision together i will make arrangements as best i can to digitally send that to heather who can distribute it and it could also be

046then publicly accessible rather than simply through the m live articles all right thank you alan erica uh yeah i was just going to say i think that it's the representation on this commission is a little bit the formation of it was a little bit confusing i think for um and unique in terms of city commission formation in terms of kind of representation though there are there is some president in terms of you know transportation commission different commissions often have representatives from different different entities across the city but because of uh the kind of heightened awareness around this particular site in our community i think there's also a little confusion for folks who aren't very close to it to not understanding the council of the commons is not even a typical commission way of naming a

047commission so there's there's going to be a lot of confusion from from folks that aren't very close to this to understanding okay what's the council of the commons what's the initiating community what's what the rigging conservancy actually has a more kind of non-profit uh conventional name in some ways um in terms of defining that but uh we just might all want to be really aware um that that that confusion exists in the in the community and and be extra cognizant of trying to um be careful of what we're wearing and being clear about communicating that and yeah i would just echo uh council member right sentiments too i think that the representation out in the community especially you know i think it's it's totally um okay and encouraged if folks have conversations you know around

048this in public and call other entities of the city or community members or organizations and ask questions i don't think there's anything wrong with that we're all citizens and we have the right to do that and certainly as a member of another organization you have the right to do that and uh so i think that's good i think the key is that uh we do need to have a process here where if there's going to be a communication a question from the council we probably want that to go through heather as a good point person for our council and meaning so the external uh approach of an entity on behalf of the council should go through there and then if anyone else here is is uh engaging in that on behalf of in a different

049organization then um they should just make that clear too and i think that will clear up some of the issues that erica brought up and certainly some of the issues we've heard about i've heard about at least you know prior to this so frank yes uh i i'm finding this conversation very helpful because uh you know i'm obviously on the board of the library green conservancy i'm on this board and i i'm i'm very careful not to represent try to represent this board in any way in my comments i feel i can i can speak as a member of the board i can't speak for the board of the conservancy either but i think role definition and communication this is this is a very helpful conversation thank you thank you frank camilla yeah i just

050like to redirect your attention to role making so in terms of in terms of a formal sort of establishment of um you know of roles that it seems like to me we obviously have uh uh heather why don't we start off by just making sure that we're clear um as to what the city um has charged us with as a commission so that we can then utilize that in our work next week uh and um and then we can also i think we've we've uh talked significantly about the membership here uh why don't why don't we get into that a little bit uh according to the resolution and i'm just going to redo the language um and then we can dissect it if we need to but the council of the commons is an advisory

051body to city council and the city administrator that will build upon the work of the center of the city task force by providing written recommendations annually on such subjects as funding needs and operations and maintenance model and the role of the council of the commons excellent and i think this is important to remind ourselves for a couple things a couple of reasons one camilla to to your point around setting setting that expectation our expectations are but then also to get our thinking in mind we're going into a good uh hopefully a really productive uh progressive um session next week and uh you know understanding that that one of the actions coming out of that should be recommendations to council around whatever that the charge of the meeting is um and i think that's particularly important

052when we think about what our what taking action based on our role is um so is there is there any uh question or confusion around that around that role i would like heather to read also the other part of that october 5th 2020 resolution that initially established the council of the commons because that described the role of the initiating committee as the on-the-ground community partner in implementing the recommendations of the center of the city task force and various other elements of that and i hope and i asked before that everybody actually need that recommendation whereas is that the initiated committee was about and the resolve to recognize it as an on-the-ground partner uh part of the block committee and interface to follow up on the public engagement at the center of the city passport but

053that also describes the role of the initiating committee that which is how come there we are here as designated representatives rather than simply as citizens who applied and [Applause] [Music] were i missed part of what you said you were cutting out a little bit there but i think um one of the issues is that there's been multiple interpretations of what that language is and one of them had anticipated that the initiating committee would the role your role your function was to get the council of the commons up and running and then the council of the commons would be the primary group and and many people thought that the initiating committee would disband at that point um you have not obviously you have now incorporated into a 501c3 uh group so that calls into question i

054think which i don't i don't know i'm not an attorney and i don't want to pretend to officially interpret the language that's in there um but the role is just how do you intercept them with the council the commons and you're recognized you're recognized as an entity and that resolution as doers but what does that really mean and i think that's the question and i think that's part of what um you all are all trying to define right now well it distinguishes just from the council of the commons which is specifically defined as advisory to the city council right we are defined as essentially i don't remember the exact languages on the ground doers and that's what we've been trying to get together and uh what the doings are in terms of the garden or

055design or a liberty plaza or any of that is sort of what the process we all together try and get to get functioning so that people are really maximally involved and i think that's that sort of got described somewhat in the in the short term medium-term long-term visions that most people put forward and we're dealing with the short-term elements of that uh in our meeting on the seventh right and i think we've got a few few hands up here alice unmuted herself and then erica did as well i think alan that the the part of the the main point here around the the description of the initiating committee is that on the ground doers seems to have had some scope creep into what the council of the commons uh is going to make recommendations on

056and i think what our point uh or what some of the points that heather brought up are are related to ensuring that uh you know even if obviously the initiating committee can incorporate into a 501 c3 there's nothing wrong with that but making sure that that uh that we're not running two parallel paths here is is probably very important um certainly important from a public transparency perspective so that's sort of what the debate is i think uh alice oh erica had her hand up for first oh i'm sorry erica either or is fine with me um i just wanted to say it from my perspective obviously i was um when i came on to to council i think there was um i understood from the kind of city attorney's office that the initial um the

057initial resolution that sort of it formed this this this commission um you know was a little was a little unconventional in terms of defining rules and expectations and so that was part of the goal of the the second resolution was to to clarify some of that it's still a little bit confusing because that october 5th resolution is out there um and and and so i think it's maybe there may be an important role for this commission in terms of of going back at some point and clarifying if there's something additional that um is important that wasn't in that in that resolution that that got passed by um you know in the resolution that that heather read off in terms of what our expectations are for this for this commission um if if that's not and

058not enough is captured there i think that's maybe important um feedback to give to council um from my perspective i find a non-profits to be an incredibly valuable part of the community i i run one so i i i absolutely uh see their value in the community but i think it's really important to keep those keep these functions separate nonprofits serve and very important advocacy and and fundraising and all great roles in the community um but city commissions serve a different purpose advisory purpose to council and so i i want to make sure that we're we're not blending the role of a non-profit with the role of the city commission and um to me that first that first resolution did a little bit of that more than i i was comfortable with as a council

059member so i personally look to that second resolution um for guidance if um i would look to to members of this commission for for more guidance on if if that's not sufficient or if we need to clarify it uh we got a few folks i think uh allison and frank you unmuted yourself oh assuming you're okay um i think arab to put it rather well that there are different roles and different purposes also heather's reading of the purpose is from that second resolution i believe and it's important to remember that as a succeeding resolution takes priority over the first one and i think it does provide some clarity we have it at the top of our agenda every meeting and i think it's worth reading every time um and the the way i think one

060way that we can um provide some definition between the role the groups that are represented on this council and the council itself is that we have the opportunity to go to to item number nine subcommittees and and think about perhaps there is a subcommittee that the inter the initiating committee members representatives on this council could call in other people to their small group of committee i think it's three to five people in a committee there are are permitted including members that are not representatives on this council but i think that might be a way to sort out these rules every every every non-profit that comes along could have this committee with one of our council people um being part of that and they would address as such things as a garden uh or as this

061or that because these these committees need to have a good focus for their work and then that's that to me would make every committee have the option to become doers to focus on an activity that moves us along in our mission to advise the council uh as to what is needed to accomplish the things we're recommending those are two things i wanted to say that our purpose is well defined and that we have within that purpose in that structure of the bylaws we have an opportunity to express various groups interests um whether they are the non-profits or not by having leadership from our council on the commons that includes other people to accomplish a certain goal a certain action and come up with a recommendation for council to implement that that's great great idea austin

062frank yes i think i'm unmuted um i i just want to basically support what what allison and erica have said i uh my concern is that we're uh we're getting we're getting stuck on uh something it's important i think the initiating committee is an important resource it it provides a certain amount of energy and activity but uh the city is looking to the council of the commons uh to move forward and i'm excited about the facilitated working group uh and i think that and the subcommittees you know give us focus and definition because i think we have to move as a group into this next phase uh in a effective way and i think we're i think we're ready for that and uh i would encourage us to do that thank you frank so in

063terms of um and we can bounce around a little bit on this agenda and uh i think that the key area of importance around the rules is uh we do need to since we have a couple of representatives uh um from the from two uh external now nonprofits on the uh council here i think it is gonna be i think it's important for uh all of us to be conscious of establishing how that how that relationship is going to work and and then how through maybe a subcommittee structure or otherwise um the interaction happens and obviously you all are a part of the council too um but certainly if there are things like visioning or activities or gardening or things like that you know that could be integrated as alice said and i think our

064our goal for this agenda item maybe morphs into the subcommittee if that's uh if there's a an interest in essentially linking um things a little more directly in that process what are folks thoughts about doing that i'm not here i understand what you're suggesting can you say that again yeah so i think uh i think uh what our our desire to do on this is you know is to essentially clarify for everybody here that you know the role of this council is described in that latter agenda and we do want and i think you're hearing this from a lot of folks to establish a clear interaction for how the library green conservancy and the initiating committee in particular are engaging in work around the lot and how we can better integrate some of that hands-on

065work into the policy advisory role that this council has and it was suggested by alice that we do that and through a subcommittee process does that help clarify ellen now and you're muted sorry all your music yeah yeah that that i'm a little i'm a little clear i don't quite we haven't really talked about what these subcommittees are that's i'm not sure whether you're suggesting the initiating committee become a subcommittee as some subcommittees be functional in terms of areas of development like the library like the liberty plaza like playground like children like that and stuff like that outstanding yep i think that uh i think that's been potentially a suggestion um jeff has had his hands up sorry go ahead jeff yeah i i just wanted to uh support what what alice said and i

066think that points to and what you said uh adam and and that points to the importance of our you know putting in place some subcommittees to so that we can number one start doing stuff right um i think and number two to um camilla's point bring in a lot of different voices uh to participate in the the roles and activities that are assigned to those subcommittees and you know there are some suggestions of of what the initial two or three or four subcommittees should be and i think we should act on that as quickly as possible so we can get a bit of momentum but i think that's that's where you're going to get the real action that's where you're going to get the um the diversity and that's where you're going to get the

067solidarity developing between everybody so i think it's important to get on with those identifying three or four subcommittees and getting on with that thanks thank you jeff uh sarah thanks i don't want to belabor this too much i'm still fairly confused as to i mean i understand what heather said like i understand the purpose of this um console of the comments i don't understand the initiating committee and the library grain conservancy and how those are different and how you guys work like why are there now two 501c3s that are like you know both have the mission of like improving this space i just i'm maybe i need a flowchart or something or we need to like delineate exactly what the different roles are but like i'm just not getting it yet and we don't necessarily

068have to discuss this here maybe this will come out more but i'm just still incredibly confused just to like how our work intersects with the work of two groups that now seem to be incredibly similar tonight can i add on to that um i think i i leave these meetings often wondering who's choose the tail and who's the dog in terms of you know the wagging situation that's a terrible analogy um but it also i feel like we were appointed to come up with recommendations first for you know what for city council consideration but this activity sort of just continues to happen and plans get made and then reported back to us it feels a little backward to me um versus you know in my mind i understand that there was an initiating committee and

069there was you know this original vision as to what things you know what we would love for it to be um you know by the will of the people and the vote but you know what's feasible what do the black partners want what is you know what what can we actually accomplish um versus just sort of this whole we're gonna we're gonna plant flowers we're gonna have this garden and let's move on to phase two so it feels a little frustrating to me just in terms of um where the lines are in terms of roles and responsibilities and if the desired outcome is for this committee to come to council with actionable recommendations that feels a little bit disparate from activity that's already happening so i i agree with you sarah and well not to

070assume i understood your point but from what i understood of your point i think there's that's why we continue to have this circular conversation every meeting that we've had so far so hopefully this maybe at the end of this we'll have some resolution around or clarity around that i i think that's part of the desire with this agenda item right is to we we do have two non-profits that have had designated representatives to this council uh they're going to do work that is in their mission and i think it's our desire here tonight to establish how that work is going to interact so that we can take it into account as we make policy advice to counsel that's i think that's that's basically the basis of this alan yeah well uh the council has expressed

071itself in quite a bit of detail on what it wants to see get the cars off get a block committee going activate the uh the public space and and that is what the initiating committee is seeking to uh pursue there doesn't need to be any new recommendation i think allen froze alan alan we're going to get back to you here um when you pop back on frank you've you got your hand up why don't we go to you and then we'll come back down when you're done uh i'm not going to try to give you detailed background here but the library green conservancy was formed as a 501c3 to advocate and participate in the re-establishment of our town square which we now refer to as the center of the city on the library block our

072emphasis is on the physical space uh represented by the public land on this block and to raise raise funds from the private sector to to help make this this happen um i i hesitate to try to talk for the initiating committee i think they have similar goals uh regarding the physical space but also the commons and commenting and that can take you all you know into other activities like banking and other social activities social betterment activities um because they because the the initiating committee was not an organized entity recognized by either the state or the federal government as a non-profit we were the conservative conservancy was brought in to serve as a fiscal agent for any grants that the initiating committee might want to apply for and we would be the 501c3 to facilitate that

073from my perspective you know i'm a member of the council of the commons i happen to be representing the library green conservancy but i don't i don't think of it that uh that i'm coming with my library green agenda other than to reestablish the town square and help build interest and financial support from the private sector which seemed would seem to be in complete sync with the council of the commons and i um so i i see myself just as an active participating member of the council and i happen to get this appointment through the library green conservancy but i don't view myself any differently than any of the other members so i don't know if that helps clarify anything it definitely helps for me frank um alice you've had your hand up yeah it's

074just um i i had a small little emergency here which i have to get back to in a little while um but um so i may have missed an important point but the back to our purpose stated every time every meeting on our agenda to make recommendations to city council uh building upon the work of the center of the city task force uh which is now disbanded it has uh you know it produced a a extensive report of community engagement and community shared community goals and wishes uh a wish list sort of um and i i think that that gives further um emphasis to this council in that we are basically the descendant or the derivation from that task force and it is our job to carry on for the task force to make recommendations

075that will make real the goals and aspirations of the city as they are expressed in the task force report so in a way that sort of um subordinates any any existing group to this new avenue for action which is this council's recommendations to city council and city council actually has to act upon it if we're going to get anywhere we you know there are anybody can volunteer for anything outside of this council and report back if they have uh helpful things to report back but i think maybe we we have lost focus on the fact that this counts this council is a derivation from is derived from the task force report basically and that that does not attach to any specific group it attaches to all the groups basically and that's where inspiration and aspiration

076can can be focused in a specific goal from the task force report maybe by a subcommittee if they're you know that that's why i look at it right now is that all of the groups that want to support the center of the city are equal in their opportunities and that the opportunities we can offer are focused opportunities every submit committee should have a recommendation in mind because i think that's where we will get the most unified recommendations to counsel but that helps us have solidity to a recommendation our goal as a group is to make the recommendations because without those recommendations nothing goes anywhere and at least from my point of view so i think that's where we're heading and i hope we get there really soon thanks alice all right allen you cut out

077just i apologize for my battery failure that i i have really low okay we plugged in again i hope my i moved to another place where it was more stable but the battery wasn't as stable so i'm back hello everyone that's okay uh jeff you've had your hand up yeah i just wanted to echo what frank said uh you know i i i was appointed here from the initiating committee i also happen to be on the library green but i view myself on here at the council that comes as a member of the council of commons and i do not wear the hat of the initiating committee or the or the library green conservancy and i respect and uh support the the primacy of the council of the commons and i agree with alice uh

078in her view of how this how this should be conducted thanks thank you rita um i just want to say i do appreciate this discussion of rules at first i was confused as to what we were talking about what rules and now it clearly makes more sense to me about the the levels of confusion um and i think that what i can say on this um is as an ad because i agree with much of what's been said is that um what i think we're seeing from some of the groups like the initiating committee in particular uh is the level of impatience with moving to something that's tangible and that is built on the fact that we're now what two and a half years post um referendum on the issue in which it was approved

079and so there are many reasons for the delay much of which is related to covert 19. um so i think we need to um regroup in that way and maybe readjust um and acknowledge the impatience i think it's real and reasonable um but move forward and i i do hope that as we move into the subcommittees that each of them has a defined scope um and that that is communicated clearly to each of them are developed by each of the groups so that we don't run into overlap among them as well because they could easily come into like more than more confusion than we have right now unless we have some clear scope on those that's all perfect thank you rita do we want to start talking about subcommittees because it seems like that is

080that is that it seems like we've correct me if i'm wrong at all but it seems like we have uh clarified uh pretty thoroughly what our role is here and and many folks who are representing both the initiating committee and the librarian conservancy have clarified how they feel they come to this and i think we've clarified how information should be communicated internally and externally um are there any other role clarifications that folks are are feeling they're hazy on i think from now on it's about making sure we follow that process so that a camera was jennifer or you sarah that said we don't get into a situation where the the tail is wagging the dog and have a situation perpetuate all right so let's talk about subcommittees um what are folks i'd just like to

081put something out there about subcommittees because i think there might be a perception that the subcommittees would be um doers you know activity people that are going out there and painting or you know doing something else but because as as i understand it because they are you know sub bodies of this larger body which is an advisory group these the subcommittees would also be advisory and the supporting the mission of the larger group which is to then provide recommendations to city council so i don't want people to get their hopes up that the subcommittees would be something like the you know the group that's been going out and and putting all the beautiful plantings out on the site um you would still be advisory erica yeah that was what i wanted to say is as

082well partly as i think um i would caution us not to try to create too many subcommittees um and uh recognize we're a relatively small group um certainly the the committee that i am the most interested in getting started and is um utilizing that funding that that council has allocated for the development of a physical plan and i i think our upcoming um special session is going to help us develop some recommendations on short term um some short term recommendations as well um that may there may be a need as well for a a committee that's focused on further developing what comes out of that working session i can imagine um but i do think that there's a very special role that nonprofits play in our community and i'm i i'm very appreciative of the

083work that volunteers have been doing to to do plantings and and you know to beautify the site the site that that's there and and to do things that government um doesn't always have the time or the resources um or the things move more slowly so um i i appreciate that that's happening um but you know i think we we want to make sure that we're we're moving towards what the the charter amendment um um voters asked of us and making recommendations to council for sure uh else um in that respect i think uh you know we could come up with a couple of examples right now of things that would be appropriate to assemble to sub-committee study and activity to result in a recommendation that we vote on to send up to city council for

084the action that is needed there so i'll just throw out a couple um and that would be to this to establish the priority of center of the city activities over parking cars structure maybe say it that way then rather than to say to get the cars off the top of the structure it might allow for instance how do we uh you know we recommend that city council well we've got to be specific i guess but that's what the subcommittee would decide how what we recommend in order to get for instance adam's suggestion of regular use of food carts for an activity on on the uh on the side but so there are two things one to establish the priority of center of the city activities over parking on the surface we used to be against

085surface parking lots why are we now trying to keep this one i don't quite understand but um but those those are two and and then the the corollary to that would be making it possible to have a food carts on a regular basis and try to make this a regular you know to recommend a monthly or two weekly to every other week or maybe every week on a weekend like farmer's market just because farmer's market can't always do food trucks it makes sense to have a place where food trucks can be and they're only a couple of blocks away so um those are two that i would think of i'm sure that anybody here can think of one or two so that's my suggestion of how to get started on subcommittee okay thank you uh

086else and what we can do tonight too uh is you know people can offer ideas and certainly next week i think we are going to see i hope at least we're going to see some really refinement of of ideas and maybe that will help us refine our subcommittee processes um just being conscious of time and thinking of this working session that we have um i uh that that could be a good suggestion too jennifer yeah i i wanted to build on that a little bit and i guess in my mind i had some ideas around just what subcommittees might exist and one of them i think dovetails with alice's suggestion but was more broad in terms of just ideas for near-term activation and what does that look like what is it what are the cost

087considerations what are the security considerations what are just the logistical considerations you know if a food truck comes do they need power and how do they access it um you know that sort of thing i think would be a really good subcommittee not being prescriptive around food trucks just in general but you know what does activation of the site in your term looks like and then what are our fundraising opportunities um you know should we if we want public buy-in and city council buy-in you know should we be looking at grant opportunities what does that look like you know are there actual funds available to supplement public funding for this type of project um you know really and not applying for it again not you know trying to activate any of these ideas or move

088forward with them but just to put them on the table and concise and sort of um well-informed and researched space um i think that that would be hugely helpful and then i think the other big piece of it is just the consensus like the consensus subcommittee which is not a good name either but um something around you know getting engagement from the the black partners and you know especially private sector businesses that are part of um that space what does a business that butts up to that space think about it um you know is there a potential loss of revenue around part you know losing that parking do they see it as a benefit you know what sorts of things would be great for that but um i guess i i considered subcommittees to be

089more sort of big buckets of research very very defined and targeted research around you know different areas of a plan that we might submit to city council for a recommendation and i agree wholeheartedly that i believe our working session will put a finer point on just some of the possibilities versus just you know hurdles that might be too too large to cross for us but would really give some solid parameters and construct to what those activities of the subcommittees might be so wonderful those are definitely good ideas as well are there other ideas folks would like to have we're certainly seeing some overlap here um that's great wow this could be a quick agenda item then so i just uh to uh make sure we're capturing uh all of the ideas that have been presented

090maybe uh and then we can i would really encourage us to bring this back up uh aft you know at the end of our or the end of our working session uh next week and and we can maybe hopefully refine uh those topics then ellen you just put your hand up yeah i uh one of the things i'm very interested in is what is the culture of the commons and the code of conduct that was specifically directed that we should be working on i gathered some ideas to that in my statement on short-term vision uh whatever element 5.2 i think that that is a a part of the community engagement which is maybe the overall topic here how to get people all through the community to know what's happening and to feel the part themselves

091part of it but what is the culture what is the code of conduct how are people encouraged to act to one another so this is a wholesome welcoming safe exciting interesting place and i would encourage people to look at at least those ideas that i laid out in my effort towards short-term vision it's item five which is about community engagement and management uh that what is the code of conduct and the culture and how we uh elaborate that and get people to respond and improve so there's actually a culture that represents the community as a whole all right thank you alan i think we've got frank i i didn't hear you over allen's call oh uh alice uh you wanna go first and then frank okay um i think uh some of the uh huh

092well i i'm kind of i kind of would like to go since it sounds like some of the things about subcommittees sound like they might those things might be part of this facilitated discussion i'd like to kind of uh toggle over to the july 7th near-term term this activation discussion oh boy that's a mouthful um what questions you have for guest speakers well i don't know who the guest speakers are but i would like to have someone describe the process of designation as a park or expansion of a park those that idea because we already have this element that is a park part we may want to be looking at how these can be integrated i know there's very divergent ideas about that but i think we need to understand the actual parameters what does

093it take to get designated or what does it take to expand what does it take to add area to a park that might be a good narrow place to look at somebody who can represent the park's planning that's just one i think there are others that would merit a specific um address from someone who knows including for instance the breakout panels in the foundation that are shown on some versions of the plans for the parking structure what's the intent there i think it was several that some of the block partners for instance would have interest in underground parking that they could have access to so that says to me we need to have either whoever the engineer is for the dda but um if we're not going to have the dda involved that seems kind

094of dumb if we're going to be talking about things with with about working with uh businesses and owners on the lot so that's that's i think those are the kinds of questions we need to ask very specific but which open up to a greater understanding of the complexity of this so real quick because i know heather is going to want to talk about this and as our as our uh primary facilitator i think on this and and camilla as well uh before we get into this real quick i did want to just offer up to frank and erica on a subcommittee discussion specifically we've had a number of things that have been thrown out by members um we'll capture those uh obviously and and create a list so that they are thought about and referenced

095during our meeting next week as well and we can refine are there other things on the subcommittee line item before we turn it over to heather to talk more about next week i guess i think it's a subcommittee but i just wanted to echo uh what allen said i think an underlying issue that uh underpins our our chances of long-term success is is the uh the culture of um this space including liberty plaza you know we all know the history of liberty plaza and how it's it's not a it's not viewed as a welcoming place by the entire community and we we need to really look carefully into this we need to talk to community groups we have to talk to the the people who populate uh liberty plaza and we really have to put

096that issue front and center in a in a way that is inclusive is understanding uh and is uh viewed as a positive cooperative effort to improve that perception in the community and in the actual activity of the space it's a very good point we've got a couple more folks uh erica and then sarah yeah i guess um i appreciate what frank says in terms of just thinking about what has been successful in the area and you know how and and how do we um what are challenges in the area in terms of building more public spaces i think that's important i would caution and for myself i would not be supportive of a subcommittee that focuses in too abstractly on um culture or quite specifically the comedy movement it's not that i don't think that

097that's interesting and um i'm glad that there are folks in the community thinking about that i think that's best left in the nonprofit space um but for this for the work of this group advising council i think we have i'd like to for my from my perspective i'd like to keep it very tangible and how we use the space and and activate it and move forward in terms of um the physical design and pieces like that that um i think we we certainly do have in terms of public spaces we have certain expectations in our in our culture and we have certain rules around parks and things like that and so i think to alice's point of you know would this be expanded into a park space that's an important conversation and how that would

098happen but um i'll just leave it at that all right that was good erica thank you sarah and then rita i'll just plus one some things that i think erica just said and that jennifer just said and maybe add a little spin on what erica just said just as like a maybe so i agree with jennifer um i think there should be a block partner subcommittee in the fundraising subcommittee for sure so i just wanted to like plus one of those um and i think the physical um activation i think we will get more understanding after our session next week um about what that looks like but i think the digging into some of like the challenges would be another good subcommittee i agree i agree that i don't with erica that i don't think

099we should have a culture subcommittee although i i think that the you know the equitable engagement piece is is interesting and i don't know if that would warrant a subcommittee but i think it definitely warrants attention like i think that we should be out there talking to people that use liberty plaza if that wasn't done previously and just really make sure or at least present recommendations for processes that the city could undertake to really make sure that we're understanding like the best use of this space um one of the concerns that i have i think i'm sorry if you can hear my children screaming is is around the commenting movement i feel that that's really tied to this space and i think that's that could be polarizing for the community writ large like i i'm

100i'm sure it's great i don't fully understand it i'm not sure i support it as something that like we embody as this group and sometimes i feel like that's being pushed a little too much on us so i would not be in favor of a separate that focuses specifically on that all right thank you sarah uh rita and then alan thanks um i think the the point that i would want to make in terms of the the culture is that i do agree very much with the equity issue that we do want this to be for me anyway welcoming for everyone and i mean everyone all layers of our groups of people who come into our city and who currently live here um that it should be totally welcoming and i think for me it

101would be a failure if this becomes a gentrifying issue that results in essentially driving people away who currently use the space i would be horrified if that's the result of what we do so that is something that i don't know how to express it i don't know how to include it in what we do but i feel it is extremely important i agree ridiculous too that's always been on my mind of uh you know we don't want to further encourage uh a narrowing of anything so if i could just say one other thing i i i frank and i had an opportunity to talk with someone last week who was there who actually really likes the place and i think we need to understand that there are people who really like it and um feel

102included right now and so that feeling is something that i did get a sense of on another event that i went to there that i would like everyone to have and that i think will contribute to our success ella yeah i i echo reader's last comment on the people who are there uh i think they are really the base for developing an improvement association for the liberty plaza and that if they were seen more as uh resources and respected participants in the creation of the place they use rather than as problems uh we would all be far ahead and the people i have talked to there have that same feeling that the community perception of them is uh is of them and that is not proper we should not uh reinforce that but i raised

103my hand on the question of the commons from the beginning of this this the uh this has been a community commons you know we cannot presume unless we want to advise a city council to drop the fifth word the defining word of the central park and civic center commons it is an effort to relate to the global movement of municipal self-management and while it is true that the commons is not a common phrase and understanding in our education that is a problem of our education and we all are participants in our self-education as to what the commons is actually about not to polarize us but to see there's great opportunity and creativity in this idea that is going all over the world so i hope we see that as something to learn about and i

104think i've mentioned before that in the structure of our country the notion is to privatize the commons and that is not the picture of this endeavor and what was actually voted on and argued for and people may have various views of it but i think our responsibility and somehow is to see well what is the content of this idea and how is it beneficial in the development of our community so i'm hoping that we see the commons as our opportunity and our focal idea which it connects how what kind of central park we have what kind of civic center building and focal point that we are creating thank you alan so uh jeff yeah i just uh wanted to briefly elaborate on what alan said i think you know people get uh overly concerned about

105this essentially what a commons is is you know a a user manage management of public resources right so there are certain procedures and ideas about how people sort of uh in a community organized to to to to use public resources and how and and that process is is managed by the users themselves and there are many possible iterations of that um you know this this whole idea was actually investigated in depth by a nobel prize winning woman called eleanor ostrom who wrote her phd thesis in several books on managing the commons which is shared public resources and so educating people a little bit about what she had to say about that how that could be done effectively to make sure that that the use of public resources is very inclusive and diverse and fair and

106equitable she outlined very clearly she has a center at the university of indiana she's dead now unfortunately uh she laid that out and there's been some elaboration of it but that's basically what we're talking about i'll drop it at that thanks thank you jeff so i think we we've got a lot of great ideas out there on the table for subcommittees we can certainly refine them uh as we get through next week's uh work session heather why don't you talk with us talk a little bit about uh and and camilla what your your vision is for next week so that uh folks can can react and know what to think all right i'll get us started so the first we have this divided into three parts and the first third of it is really that

107learning piece of everybody um understanding what systems already exist and where there might be opportunities to enhance those systems or do something different so what i lined up is a representative from our park system and then maura thompson from the dda will be coming as well i just heard i just received an email from the person from arts the director from park cities he's not able to make it he had a is a an important family thing that came up so i'm gonna talk with him tomorrow and figure out if there's a replacement if or if there's something else that we can do to get that information because i don't want anything to get lost in translation for me i think it's important to hear from people that really are are deep deeply working in

108the park system and have managed liberty plaza you know all this time and then their perspectives on how the library lot may or may not fit into the park system so i'll keep you posted on that uh but that that's what was originally established for that first piece and then also about renting the space too um i know allen's been through the process of renting the space in the past but i think it's a process that a lot of people just aren't aware of um so uh there may be somebody there that will walk us through that too just so that you're aware of how that process works and how people can apply to use the space because it is actually available for anybody and everybody to use right now they just have a permitting

109process to do that and then so with that um camila and i worked at putting a list together of some top some top activation uh things that came near-term activation um approaches that rose to the surface from the work of the center of the city task force as well as the vision um statements that you provided to to me before and so we wanted to walk through that and prioritize see what was really um people were really feeling like what they want to bring forward and then the third part is getting into how would that happen what can we do again with the systems that already work um to make things happen um if if we don't feel like we have the systems in place or the sport in place that we need to make

110things happen to activate the space in the near term then then what can we do what can we recommend to city council to move forward but my hope is with this is to kind of get at some of that impatience rita that you brought up before and that's why i wanted to solely focus on the near-term activation because i think if we can start getting more activity out there and at least feeling you know that this is a public space transitioning it over from a parking space um to to having people on that and having that activity then i feel like it's gonna we're gonna feel like we have momentum and um it'll be a resource for the community to enjoy so with that camilla did you have anything else that you wanted to add

111to that no i'll just reiterate that this is the hope is by the end of the july 7th meeting we'll have a pretty good draft of a physical report that we can give to city council members explaining recommendations and then outlining um how to um go about completing those recommendations um yeah i'm very excited wonderful uh alan's got his hand up here i just want to say thank you to both of you for putting in some extra time to make that happen and camilla uh you know thank you as well you're a member of the council here too and so we appreciate you uh stepping up on that regard too uh alan yeah i am this is very good i am eager that as much of this is available to all of us beforehand even

112if colin smith did not come we should have a report from the parks on the actual usage of liberty plaza i did get a report at one point from the initiating committee who used it for what time at what times the the church the uh sonic lunch and so forth and and what questions issues they have on the security from the police as to what the security questions they have there uh first martin if they want to give some report because they are involved in the oversight of that that we should have that report beforehand and similarly if there is a list of uh of activating elements in part to begin part two of this i hope that can be circulated ahead of time so everyone can have an opportunity to reflect on it uh

113the uh before the meeting that's uh basically that we should be well prepared for this facilitation and not trying to catch up with what we just hear for the first time well i'll ask about any reports that exist on liberty plaza i'll again i'm talking that colin tomorrow so i'll ask him about that if he can send those along um in the meantime if you have any questions specific questions for him or anybody else in the park system or the dda then that would be helpful to me and to them to prepare for the conversation on the 7th so just send those directly to me all right frank regarding the dda i'm very i'm very happy that maura will be there um i i would and i don't know whether i i spent some time

114on their website today but i i i would like to know something about the origins the dda you know its charter its mission and there didn't seem to be a statement describing that uh and yeah i know what the dda has done and it's done a lot of wonderful things but i i keep hoping and thinking that what we're about should be embraced by the dda you know we can build a lot of housing uh we can get a lot of business activity into downtown but we need uh welcoming public space uh i think we're all aware that over a thousand new bedrooms are going to be constructed literally within a you know a sand wedge shot in golf i don't i don't golf anymore but we're talking about the dte the former y lot

115the paleo lot all these places we're going to have a lot more people living in proximity to the center of the city and i would like to see over time and maybe more as the person for the dda begin to embrace this as part of their their mission to provide this kind of active welcoming public space ddas are established through enabling legislation by the state um so if if you haven't already run across that i can pass that along to you that can give you some insight into the why in general exist and then essentially their mission is to do public investment just for economic development and that can be done in many many different ways right you know and i've you know sarah was very enlightening to rita and i on a conversation that

116you know businesses benefit uh from public space uh it's there's an economic benefit if there's welcoming positive uh you know well-managed public spaces uh businesses in proximity drug draw real value from that so anyhow thank you sarah thanks frank uh thanks er or erica thanks um this perhaps gonna come up i could have brought this up in the roles section too but it's also kind of a question i i know that there's at least been um it'd be helpful to know from parks perspective um in parks commission perspective how they want us to be thinking about and discussing um liberty square i mean it's that it's uh this is a space that is worth thinking about and we're talking about or thinking about intersecting with but we actually don't have per view over um exactly

117and so i'm not quite sure how i think we need to come to terms of what that looks like moving forward as well um and and if there's tension around that how we we need to figure out how to how to address that that's a great point sarah to add on to that because that was what i wrote down too just understanding better from from parts like what would be the process for them to fund any ideas that this group came up with or any recommendations this group came up with um regarding liberty plaza what is what is their prioritization process for capital projects and where does this park exist on their list if it does at all uh else i'm trying to remember what i was going to say it had to do with

118the dda um but it also oh here's here's the deal there we have city institutions like the dda and like the aadld who are who are very prominent in the way things happen um and i think there's been an adversarial role adversarial condition going on for years and now and and that comes back to the fact that we had a public ballot to establish this center of the city kind of place the dda has has often narrowed their role and is seen a lot as the parking authority and that's not really fair to them but it also is a solid public perception that all they do is parking that they also are going to be doing renovation of fifth street and division fifth and division and those are going to be very important projects that

119should be mutually beneficial for all concerned same with the aadl the aadl has had somewhat negative impressions of what all this means the development of the library lot and has never been supported but it seems to me it could be a very mutually beneficial relationship if we were to look to transform it recently new york times had an um profile of this guy vergarian i think his name was died but he was basically a turnaround manager for the new york city public library they had a terrible park problem with bryant park and they were losing money and they didn't have room for this and there were all these problems and he had a vision that that all of those things would be good things if you know people could get a grasp on it it

120just struck me right then and there that he he described the new york public library as i believe aadl is it's important to our culture it's important to um the education of young people and all of these things is very critical for a city our size or almost any size to have a library that's active and supported in the community what we do on the on the library lot as we used to call it is very important to the library but the library is very important to all of us so these two institutions like the dda and and the in the um aadl need to become really strong partners with us and we need to figure out how to make that happen what what will for them what they will make that will happen that

121make that happen and what that will do to benefit successful development of the library thank you alex uh jeff yeah right now yeah i just i just want to support what alice is saying but also kind of extend it a little bit to the library specifically um because uh there's the same issue with the library here that perhaps we're dealing with when it comes to aadl and the drda the library for whatever reason appears to me to or at least the the people who run the library appear to be somewhat resistant to this public space and perhaps feel that some of their plans were changed as a result of its existence and yet the library is a critical partner and could be such a wonderful partner if there was more you know uh interchange and

122interaction between us and well you know between everybody involved in this space and and the library but so far as far as i can determine there there's been virtually no communication from the library on this about their future plans or how they see this or how they might interact with us and so i would welcome the library maybe coming and talking to us about you know how they feel about this and what they have in mind for themselves and how these these things could intersect because in most cities around the world the library is at the heart of the commons the urban commons and in urban development thanks thanks jeff allen following the same thought the library is the center of the commons all over the world and uh josie parker took great offense if

123some people who supported the commons did not support the bond issue the library put forward in 2012 or whenever it was and she holds the commons responsible for that the library board has not permitted a discussion on the commons and the notion of the block group was to bring the library into a discussion how to develop the whole block i wish the block we would see the organizing the block group as an important means of drawing the library into a block-wide discussion uh particularly seeing the potential of a civic center building which would be an extension of many functions of the library so we should be partners and there's been an unwillingness to communicate that i hope either the block group or personal contacts could bridge but the library is critical in the long run

124to the sense of what is the commons and how information is shared and the great facilities and programs that they do we should be uh right next to each other and it was interesting that went on their their their north wall they were putting up murals and odile went up and said how wonderful you're putting out murals for the comments they said oh no this is not for the commons this is for the library because the actual on the ground workers there have the view that the commons and the the library commons and the commons commons were two different things and and it's strange it's very sad and we need to make a bridge of that and i think that having is our short among our short-term goals the activation of the block committee to

125the block group to bring all the partners on the block together in some way is very important i do want to be uh conscious because i think there are there's a couple of important points that have been made here by both jeff and alan aron do we do you know for for the discussion next week or or for future discussion depending upon the agenda for next week certainly engagement with uh the black partners and the the library are very important uh and i think there's a universal sharing of that support i do want to be a little conscious of you know so i'm not i've not been uh part of these discussions as long as some of you but i do want to be conscious that we now do have an advisory committee to council

126we will probably have better engagement i hope uh then uh with uh the bolt lock partners and the library let's let's try and keep the context positive and constructive in that regard if that's possible uh sarah and then erica i've forgotten a little bit about what we're exactly supposed to be discussing right now but i think this library piece is really important and i i'm sure that we couldn't get a representative to come you know next week that's very short term but i think if if there is somebody or somebody's that we could engage with their subcommittee could engage with i mean i think it's a huge opportunity for them that maybe they're just not seeing because of some of the history i think you know especially as they start to open stuff up like

127it's the perfect space to be hosting outdoor events like my future vision for this like that library lane is like closed off to traffic and it's just all sort of one big like pedestrian oriented plaza and i think it would be really and i think there could be short-term recommendations in there too so yeah i think it would be really important for us sooner rather than later to engage you know maybe with them first and then the rest of the block partners just depending on timing but that i i think that that was that's a great suggestion i think that the library needs to be pretty high up on our list but i do forget what exactly we're supposed to be like we're just giving heather and camilla uh feedback on what they presented and

128also ensuring that if there are uh external think the question that heather had on the agenda external groups that we want to have as part of this and at least give her some leeway uh lead time on that uh erica thanks um i see that we're running over agenda time but i i did want to comment on and caution us not to bring um i mean we bring our perspectives from our history to this table that's just what we do as humans right but um i see i hear people um uh bringing perceptions about about the anne of our library and particularly um actually naming the director um and and not a particularly favorable um light around this this commission table and at the same time suggesting that we might want to have positive relations

129with them moving forward and i don't think that these kind of conversations are pretty particularly productive to building a a positive relationship with um a key block partner and so i would i would caution us to to to not do that in the future um i i um i think they the library has been uh is it is an incredible organization doing so much for our community and drawing so many people downtown and they have and they have been a place for for gathering for for many many years and so i thank them for all the work that they're doing i think that i have spoken with um josie parker and about this kind of is just um and just a few things to to share that i think are are okay i think she's

130you know i think the library is interested in engaging and providing feedback um at appropriate times in this process um i think that uh likely that like many block partners they're they're they're gonna be more it's gonna be more productive to to have them respond to different different pieces that we bring forward and different recommendations and get their reactions to it i don't know that they're necessarily gonna to come and engage directly to this group um is maybe the most productive use of their time right now but you know we obviously are we want to make sure that we're thinking um and and getting their feedback on on some of the recommendations that we put forward so as we you know i would urge us that after the recommendations that might come forward next week

131out of this this working session that we take the time to to form them and then before they go to council that we could then send them out to these these key block partners for some feedback and that's a good way to engage them um but they're not gonna i don't see them in engaging in a huge commission discussion with us i'm not sure that's a productive use of their time thanks erica uh frank yes i i just want to echo everything that erica said and she said it very well um i and i i try to live by my mantra is be positive and pleasantly persistent uh let let's let's stay on a very positive we all want the same thing at the end of the day here and that is a a well

132functioning uh welcoming space that every every partner every individual can can enjoy and benefit from the other the other thing i meant i wanted to say when i put my hand up was that i hope we're open to we have two hours uh on july 7th and it just seems like it's jam-packed let us be open to you know multiple sessions uh working sessions to get where we need to go if if that proves to be the case i hope we can achieve what a number of you have said uh at the end of the day on the seventh but this is uh we're gonna you know gonna go into intermediate and longer term but we may need more time for the short term piece to really be fully fully uh fleshed out thank you

133thank you frank and i think it's i do think it's going to be important that you know we uh you know obviously with any facilitated meeting um having our facilitators really guide us along is going to help us and i think we we should help them be successful at uh getting us to that to that end and that's that's our that's our goal here i think we all have mutual uh mutual uh urging of uh development of some some stuff some concrete stuff here so um okay well this was i think a great discussion i hope uh heather and camilla we provided some useful feedback um and uh and i hope that folks are feeling good about next week i'm looking forward to it um are we ready to move on uh the next agenda

134item would be i would bounce around a little bit that would be the next agenda um i'm almost wondering if maybe i know we've talked about building out agendas at this meeting maybe we want to think about that uh you know next week as we're building out this working session uh it seems a little a little premature to get into it tonight um so maybe we can allow the working session to occur and help utilize that to inform our next agenda does that sound like an appropriate action okay sounds good um in that case the next agenda item is public comment um heather do we have any members of the public uh yes robert would like to talk all right mr flack you're up thank you again uh bravo to you guys kudos to your

135good work together i'm sitting here in awe of your ability to speak and listen respectfully with each other and uh you have done a lot to what we call in facilitation work to resolve your recognize your commonalities and resolve your distant differences and that's great i think just to reiterate i think your should keep your agendas clear and straightforward for july 7th simple take a small step together and win get as much as you can in writing ahead of time as alice's comments about the same thing from your working groups underneath this advising the group to give you things in writing ahead of time that will help you prepare and then make sure that you use your time wisely to get the the learning part done well so that you have time for q a

136and then concerning the task force part the priorities as alan suggested get as much of that on paper to the group ahead of time so your your mental process of of working this and being prepared will be much more effective as a mastermind group together if you do look on page eight of the task force you'll find six recommendations that gold mine of work that was done by the task force well it's like the booster rocket that was jettisoned in space flight um the the initiating committee is actually still with you carrying the lunar module for you so don't lose them then you need that to get back home but um these meetings when i heard alice and jennifer speak about the interim action activation i was referring to number three in the recommendations of

137the task force and if you look at the page behind them and pages 10 through 14 you'll find a very clear action plan and set of steps that you can follow to build on that foundation when i heard let's see it was jennifer again and then sarah talking about the block partner subcommittee says critical work you can start informally that should happen it's recommendation number two from the task force and so i i ask you and urge you to just get into that and then lastly recommendation number one from that task force is where alan was going it says the responsible party in this case is the city council to define the culture of the commons so one of your recommendations to them is to say please do that and if you look down your

138action steps on your task action step number one a educate yourself about the comments and and action step number one c develop for the space so you have some clear foundational pieces that you can build on both from the task force and the initiating committee that will serve you well and i'm happy that you have done a great deal to um to repair your foundation so you don't turn out like champlain towers in florida that you're going to move forward from this and build a good strong process from here forward last thing i'll say is please set up a series of work sessions with specific themes to them that lead you to your objectives thank you all right thank you mr black for uh for uh joining us this evening heather is there i don't

139think there's anybody else is there i don't see anybody who has their hands raised i see that there is somebody on the phone so if you did want to speak you can press star nine to raise your hand okay i think that's it all right well um i think uh i would just like to point out that we are improving in our uh uh in our overage uh we are less over now slightly and so that's positive so i hope everybody has a wonderful evening can we get a motion for adjournment and set some move seconded got a few seconds um i hope you have all uh wonderful holiday uh look forward to seeing everyone next week on the seventh it's gonna be a great discussion you