INC NEWS - Neighborhood Advocate qualifications and role needs more fleshing out

[Mike - Hotmail]

Thanks John,

I'm sure there are a lot of people wanting to learn more.

Posting the N&O op/ed article again on this listserve is very helpful.

It focuses the attention to the one question that keeps coming up in how the 
Neighborhood Advocate is being portrayed.

In it,  one of the very first conditions the authors used to support it is:
"Why not have an independent expert to whom neighborhoods can go for 
information and assistance?"

If this position is in the City government system, as suggested (why not the 
County too?), then how can this person be any more independent than the rest 
of our civil servants and elected officials?

This thought process was reinforced later on in the article which made some 
residents feel a little more uneasy about it referencing a major department 
within our local governments:
"Neighborhood Improvement Services doesn't have the knowledge, capacity or 
institutional culture to advocate for neighborhoods."

Why would you want to create another position in government when there's so 
much distrust in what's already there?

It's also a pretty hard slap in the face for those hard working Community 
Resources Representatives at NIS that are assigned to each PAC District. 
I, for one, have seen just the opposite in their honesty, capability and 
culture to be of assistance to the community.

Where's the independence going to come from for a Neighborhood Advocate 
while the authors feel so little faith in what's already in existence?  Why 
the attack on NIS when most of the issues that were used in the article 
dealt with Planning and Zoning?

As you're aware,  many community advocates are supporters of having 
neighborhoods and residents (along with businesses) being involved in the 
very initial phases of a proposed project.  For over a dozen years I have 
supported such a position numerous times in hundreds of neighborhood 
meetings, Chamber of Commerce committees (I'm a member), the Development 
Review process, in updating the Comprehensive Plan back in 2003-2004 and 
being deeply involved in keeping the Neighborhood notification list updated, 
to name a few.

Before taking a position on a City funded Neighborhood Advocate there's 
still some questions that need to be answered (see previous email postings).

Mike Shiflett