Wednesday, November 13, 2013 • 12:00 noon
Joseph A. Doorley, Jr. Municipal Building
444 Westminster Street, 1st Floor Conference Room Providence, RI 02903[/alert]
Agenda
- Roll Call
- Minutes
Approval of CCC Special Meeting Minutes of October 17, 2013 - Election of Secretary/Treasurer
- Ratification of Previous Votes
Ratification of votes taken at the October 17, 2013 CCC Meeting - State House Parking Issues
- Adjournment
Anything to be addressed about the fact that the governor rolled over the commission for that parking lot project? I think the public could probably be mobilized to support something if the Commission voiced it.
I notice there is no “public comment” on the agenda which some agencies routinely include (such as RIPTA.) Perhaps citizens involved in government should have a campaign to normally require such comment.
I have actually never been to a CCC meeting (their middle of the day schedule makes them harder to attend), so I’m not familiar with how they structure their meetings. Some commissions like DRC and CPC have public comment baked into certain kinds of hearings, it is not always explicit on their agendas but if something is on the schedule for public review, they take comment (I think they actually explicitly say when they are not taking comment and all other times they are).
What I think I understand about this parking lot situation is that the CCC is very much looking to see that the public is behind them on this issue (not allowing expansion of surface parking in the Capital Center District). They have to expend some serious political capital to fight this and they want to be assured it is worthwhile.
If people cannot make the meeting, then you can send written comment to the Planning Department. Chris Ise is the staff person for CCC, his email is cise@providenceri.com.
At the monthly meetings, they do invite a round of public comment near the end. Deming Sherman, the chairman of the CCC, also urges people to write directly to the mayor and the governor. Because the mayor, through the city solicitor’s office can challenge the state’s decision in court, or the governor could simply suspend this project before it ever needs to be litigated.
The CCC feels kind of checkmated, I think, because their annual budget of circa $30,000 would apparently not cover legal fees and so taking the state to court is be a worst case scenario. Hence the importance of public support for the CCC; which may exert enough political pressure to stop the thing in its tracks before any punitive measures become necessary.