Left In Lowell

Where have all the Sub-Committee Meetings Gone?

by Mimi at 1:32 pm.

I lost track of the Lowell City Council meeting schedule. On Monday when I checked the “posted” agenda on the Government page, and there wasn’t a link, I assumed that there was a computer glitch. Nevertheless, it has been two weeks since the Lowell City Council has met so I thought they were due to meet yesterday but the I was informed no; in the Summer the City Council only meets twice a month, not every two weeks as I had incorrectly assumed.

So the last Council meeting was on July 22nd; the next one will be next Tuesday, August 12th. That is a long time for the legislative branch of our local government not to have met. And the CC has also taken some time off from Sub-Committee meeting. Last week, on the 29th, the Parks and Recreation Sub-Committee (CCs R. Mercier (Chair), K. Broderick, M. Lenzi) met; one Sub-Committee meeting in 3 weeks.

There are only two sub-committee meetings scheduled for the rest of the month. The first is next Tuesday, August 12, Auditor/Clerk Oversight Sub-Committee (CCs K. Broderick (Chair), B. Martin and R. Mercier), they will discuss the “Auditor/Clerk Evaluations”; the second meeting is August 19, Economic Development (J. Milinazzo, A. Kazanjian, M. Lenzi, B. Martin).

This City Council has developed the habit of sending most motions to a Sub-Committee. Gone are the days when CC members came prepared to debate and vote. So now we have dozens of motions waiting for a Sub-Committee meeting so that they can be discussed. Here are three examples:

June 25th meeting: “Request the City Council prohibit the use of cell phones and or any communication devices during the regular, special or other city council meetings”. In Council, after considerable debate, referred to the City Council Rules Sub/Committee for a report and recommendation.

May 28th Meeting:
“Request the City Council Environmental and Neighborhood Sub/Committees meet relative to the environmental impact on the Concord River and any and all traffic issues effecting South Lowell resulting from the proposed power plant in Billerica”.

May 22nd meeting :“Request the Cable TV Sub/Committee meet and report on the Lowell Telecommunications Obscenity Policy”.

The CC needs to come up with a system to automatically schedule these sub-committee meetings, otherwise it is left up to the Chair to be make sure his/her entire Sub-Committee is available on a particular date and time (by the way, I do not consider 7:30 a.m. a good time to hold a public meeting); then make sure that there is no conflict and that the appropriate Administration staff is available. If a procedure is not in place at this rate when their term ends in December 2010, there will still be Sub-Committee meetings left to schedule.

[Filed under City Council] [link]

10 Responses to “Where have all the Sub-Committee Meetings Gone?”

Paige Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Thanks for writing about this Mimi. Many residents are waiting for follow up to the Lowell City Council meeting where the power plant impact would be discussed. Scheduling of participants plays a role, but without even dates to shoot for it limits the opportunity for the public to even participate in these forums.
Jackie Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
You’re welcome to check up on subcommittee meetings for the Lowell School Committee if you’re interested in local government at work. In the next two weeks, we have Special Education, Lowell High School, Finance, Community Partnerships, and Safety & Discipline subcommittee meetings scheduled. I’m not sure if they’re posted on our website so I’ll check about having that done. (You can also call the supt office at 978-937-7614 for specific dates/times.)Wonder how all that work would suit an appointed school board?
K-R-S Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Is this just a hint of things to come, with CC meetings being held every two weeks, vs. weekly?
waittilnextyr Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
The Council will soon be asked to vote on a form-based code to apply to the Hamilton Canal District redevelopment. Let’s hope they don’t slow-roll the progress because they couldn’t make time now to evaluate and comment on the proposed approach so as to clear the path for approval.
kpems Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
The story is that the Environmental/Neighborhood S/C request in May is aiming to meet in September. I guess these S/C things take along time.
K-R-S Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
So sad…4 months for an issue to come up in subcommittee..Must have been all those Tuesdays the CC was tied up in those pesky CC mtgs..
kpems Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I guess there was a lot of research that had to be done for the power plant s/c meeting so it should be packed with information and research. Do you all believe that will be the case? I would like to believe so. Contact the members and let them know you are waiting for Lowells to answer how they will handle our issues:

Environmental Issues
Councilor Rodney Elliott, Chair
Councilor Kevin Broderick, Member
Councilor William F. Martin, Jr., Member
Neighborhood/Traffic/Recycling/Utilities
Councilor Alan Kazanjian, Chair
Councilor Kevin Broderick, Member
Councilor Rita Mercier, Member
Mr. Lynne Says:
August 7th, 2008 at 8:32 am
waittil… could you elaborate on what exactly is (or what do you mean by) a “form-based code”?
dmg Says:
August 7th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Mr. Lynne and anyone else who’s interested, If you go to the Hamilton Canal Project website http://www.hamiltoncanal.com/ and look under the document library there is a whole series of documents pertaining to “form-based codes”. George Proakis of the Department of Planning and Development gave an excellent presentation to the City Council on July 8, 2008. You should be able to find it in the LTC archives.
Robert Lighthouse Says:
August 12th, 2008 at 7:55 am
I went to the City of Lowell online site to lookup the Sub-Committee postings and could not find them. Are they listed some where else?

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August 6, 2008

Where have all the Sub-Committee Meetings Gone?

10 Responses to “Where have all the Sub-Committee Meetings Gone?”

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