The City’s plans for a comprehensive “visioning” process got shelved, but thanks to the Environmental Quality Advisory Board “greening the city” effort, the community is soon getting a chance to engage in the kind of discussion that I was hoping that the visioning process would provide — and at next to no cost to the public treasury. On Saturday, January 17, 2009, EQAB is conducting “Greening Oak Ridge: A Community Forum for Shaping a Green Future” at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. The forum is intended to be an opportunity for Oak Ridge citizens to come together and express their ideas for creating an economically viable green future for Oak Ridge. An announcement that is being circulated to community organizations says: “This public workshop is a critical component of EQAB’s efforts to present recommendations to City Council on how to make Oak Ridge a sustainable community – a community that addresses current needs without threatening the ability of future residents, businesses, or organizations to meet their own. The thoughts and suggestions of Oak Ridge citizens will help define EQAB’s proposal of ways to reduce energy use and costs, improve air quality, protect the natural environment, maintain a vibrant economy, and enrich the quality of life.”
Discussion at Greening Oak Ridge will be framed by the following topics:
* The Built Environment (e.g. land use, smart growth, zoning, building codes, urban forest)
* Air Quality and Transportation
* Water Quality and Quantity
* Business Opportunities (e.g. potential roles or responsibilities for businesses, green jobs, impact of other ideas on business)
* The Green Environment (e.g. open space, brownfields, biodiversity)
* Governmental Policies
Each forum participant will have the opportunity to speak on each of these topics, and facilitators will ensure that conversations are balanced and ideas are recorded. After the forum, EQAB members will issue a formal report on the views expressed during the workshop. EQAB used the Chattanooga Green Interim Climate Action Plan as a model for discussion issues.
More information about the forum is on the city website. EQAB and city staff are trying to estimate quantities of refreshments, so please RSVP to Ms. Athanasia Senecal (865-425-3574 or asenecal@cortn.org) by January 10, if possible.
In case of bad weather, there’s a snow date for the forum: January 31, 2009, from 9:00a.m.-1:00 p.m.
This is a government out of control Ellen. CROET, IDB, Planning Commission,…etc. What is happening is one group of over shouting another group, yet all groups say not much money is spent for these discussions for a better meaning of what taxpayers get back in service is almost allot.
The plan to create all of these different departments is deafening this city. Maybe we should have two charter commissions to expedite the money spent. Do you understand what I am saying. I’m afraid you will take it as a sour comment about EQAB, but it isn’t. It goes for all the other departments that meet for our city but use too much resource for the quality of work.
About the EQAB direction. It is very inspiring, but it seems they are just rehashing planning commission and CROET issues. Can you explain why CROET, IDB, Planning Commission, Safety Advisory Board and a few other departments cannot be consolidated for better service for citizens? I do not see our local government getting any better like our Mayor not having all records and many citizens have not been answered by city council with specific questions. With so many departments, this was not supposed to happen.
Wow, it looks like my post caught you on the sour side, Ray. Four of the five groups you mentioned are volunteer city boards. I’m sorry that you think that involving citizen volunteers in city government is a waste of your money. I happen to see this as grassroots citizen activity — and as citizens saving the city money by donating services and expertise to the community.
The Planning Commission is a city board (not a staff department) that has a legal responsibility for planning and zoning. Its members are all volunteers.
EQAB is an all-volunteer panel of citizens serving the city by focusing on environmental quality matters.
The Traffic Safety Advisory Board is an all-volunteer group that advises the city on traffic safety aspects of specific proposals.
Because the scopes of both EQAB and TSAB relate to the work of the Planning Commission, their memberships overlap (one Planning Commissioner serves on each of the Advisory Boards).
EQAB will be conducting this forum as citizen volunteers, eliciting input from other citizens.
The Industrial Development Board is also volunteers. The members are appointed by City Council and the board has been granted some specific authorities by the City Council, but the board gets most of its authority from Tennessee state statutes.
CROET is the one group that is not a volunteer city board. It is a nongovernmental entity that was created for DOE purposes and that has its own paid staff. It is not part of city government and it does not answer to the city government.
I’m sorry you think it is sour Ellen, but a much worst taste is coming from our Municipal Building. I am confused that this city wants direction and every department is working on its own to chew away at city tax coffers. If the money isn’t there, why work at issues that the public is not interested in: marina, spec buildings, tax abatements, red light cameras, and more.
Those volunteers do use up city resources. You know nothing is free, nor is the time to push issues that would better our city: streets, sidewalks, city owned properties, civic programs? It isn’t that these groups do not serve, it is they serve little. So why don’t these groups have direction to push a plan and be successful?
After seeing skinned knees for so long, I believe it would be better for the city to just pull up the sidewalks and plant grass, for one issue.
Ellen
The forum is a great idea. I intend to participate and will encourage others to do the same. How wide-spread was the letter announcing the meeting distributed? Until I read your blog, I wasn’t aware of the forum. Has it been announced in our local papers? I enjoyed reading the results of the Chattanooga group. I noticed that one of Steve Arnsdorf’s projects was an award winner.
Glad to hear that you will participate, Ray. Please do pass the word and encourage others!
This blog is one of the first public notices of the January 17th forum. I believe that letters about the forum were mailed to leaders of a couple dozen civic organizations circa December 15th. I don’t know if the local newspapers have received announcements yet, but they should have the information soon if they don’t have it already.
Ellen: I hadn’t heard about this either before reading here. Thanks for posting. You might consider posting a note in the Oak Ridger.
Mike
Ellen, while I agree that this is good news, I have to agree somewhat with Ray in that this effort does not replace the concept of a wide ranging and open process to includes all topics from all interested parties. The marina hearing shows that we could do this without a budget hit by city, but don’t mistake that it can be done for free, even when the topic is limited to just green issues. The cost is clear when you get bids from external contractors in contrast with hidden expenses by substituting part time city employee effort and volunteer time. Professionals with proper experience will often produce a better product than inadequately trained or perhaps even untrained volunteers would produce.
If you questioned the costs before, you should still maintain that vigilance now and understand that the final product will be limited and perhaps uneven. We still need the wider view to understand where each topic overlaps with the others and where they conflict.
That is the wrong direction CN. What you introduce is the cutting of ideas. In my direction, the Planning Commission would be absorbed by EQAB. Melton Lake Park is a Green Space. Our current Planning Commission and IDB is nothing more than an extension of our Chamber of Commerce. I do not want to see the park turned into a Business Park. Citizens are paying the Chamber of Commerce for what? For the cost of the Chamber to be supported by tax dollars, we do not need the Planning Commission and the IDB. EQAB can handle all property planning owned by the city and future growth by developers while the Chamber can introduce tax abatements and alternate tax packaging to the council.
To bring it into you world at the cost of $12,000 per student, the citizens would see better use of the funds per student when the Oak Ridge Schools are sold to an external contractor. In the direction you have faced our schools, the cost shows we can have better, but not by our current system. You have to agree, a public school education doesn’t fit your mode of cost. And any more cost increase would demand accountable means, for it is taxpayers paying the tab; thus, a return to choice of educational institution would be a better fit for such a cost. It is time we find ways to cut the cost of a public education, much like you cut busing, but then sold it to an external contractor.
In response to CrackerNation, I agree that this forum is not a substitute for the visioning effort that City Council discussed. It may, however, provide a piece of what we were looking for in a visioning effort — and maybe it will turn out to be the first step in a more comprehensive effort.
I would support getting the wider process back on track if it is well done. I believe that having more of the work done by volunteers is a better approach if they are able to get some amount of training. We would wind up with a group of people interested and able to carry forward with future sessions.
The problem with doing just one segment is that all these parts are integrated and we cannot understand where the edges are without considering what is on the other side of that edge.
Substitutes, segments, factions, whatever you think it is, this city suffers from it. We have CN, you have forgotten the large amount of the citizen segment. For far too long this city has suffered at the appointment, not at the volunteer. Our volunteers are who? The people who fill seats of the ever expanding government departments that are used as lame ducks. Case in point, Melton Lake Park. Why have EQAB if a green space is controlled by a business orientated lame duck Planning Commission which is constantly unremarkable. Sad part of that is the Chamber of Commerce is tied to those volunteers there and the IDB yet trying to dig up money to cover up what a city already has. Ellen, the edge is right at civic infrastructure. We have to pull out of the force feed business attitude onto our tax rolls, for the citizens know Oak Ridge is business saturated.
We as a governing body have to immediately invest our civic needs and then will you have volunteers who will move this city with progress above where our President-Elect Obama will be showing us. We have opportunity by this meeting to move input, not just gather it. And I plan to have my information. I’m sure Ray Evans will have his, and for Angie’s information, it has yet to prove sobering. I have learned her and many other “citizen input“ by them, and the beast is Technocracy. If only Oak Ridge has an “autopilot,” as so many on our council, staff, and boards have referred our progress to be.
Ray you don’t seem to understand what I mean by edges. Here is an example.
During discussions on green space in Oak Ridge, personal safety issues are raised for people taking advantage of these relatively isolated green spaces. However since there are no public safety discussion going on about crime and fire prevention, we do not know if the police will be able provide what is needed. They may have more important fish to fry.
If we go blindly off and build green spaces and they become known for their crimes, we will have failed, not because green spaces are bad, but because we did not understand our overall priorities and limitations.
Was that edge there when you decided to cut busing?
What about the health of our seniors using the Senior Center?
Was the health of the students a segment of discussion when decided to put a $71 Millon dollar plan for a high school?
You cannot talk about the citizen segment while the only plan you push is to have citizens pay more for less.
What are you talking about. If you don’t have anything to say on topic, why post?
“What are you talking about.”
And you think you are the smart one?
Of Course, you knew it wasn’t what you wanted to hear or do. Why do you comment when you have no idea how to work for the citizens?
What I don’t understand, here you still use your racist name. So playing me as stupid is a game you and most elected and appointed officials play to not talk about what needs to be done, yet the citizen’s dime goes unanswered.
Ellen, this city has volunteers with no qualifications to do what the city asks for. For Example, Chuck Agle has to hire a secretary. Again, our volunteers are not quality but lazy. Our Planning Commission is working to remove Green Space. Here in Oak Ridge we have volunteers that destroy what is built and paid for. Why can’t we hire people to do the work of the volunteer? Our volunteers do. Why must our city time go to people who have done nothing, plan to do nothing and sell it for something more than what it is worth. There is a municipal monopoly on progress, only the way a bunch of volunteers want to go, never the citizen segment from start to finish.