Fred Weis – February 23, 2023 – Suggestion to improve the Planning Commission minutes

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    What is below is not the letter sent by the letter-writer. It will contain typographical errors and other departures from the original.  The PDF displayed above is accurate.  The text below is not accurate.  It is printed here for indexing purposes, so that each word can be indexed and included in the search.


    To: Planning Commission Chair Vaissade-Elcock, Vice-Chair Davies, Commissioners Mayer, Tangney,
    Figueroa, Lehman, Simmons.
    Community Development Department Director Loya, CDD staff Dart, Freitas
    From: Fred Weis
    Date: Thursday, February 23, 2023
    Re: Possible information to be added to the minutes for the February 14 Planning Commission
    meeting.
    ——————————————
     What is below is what could be added to the minutes. This took me about 8 minutes to
    assemble. It would be less time next time, if I utilize the same format. I use an online transcription
    service to transcribe the meetings, and this supplies the times on the video where the speakers talk,
    the names of the speakers (if known), where the agenda items start, etc.
     If it would be helpful to the Commission, I can supply this information on a regular basis. Normally I
    could have it within a few days after a meeting.
    (If I do not have the name of the speaker, I can just say “unknown speaker.”)
     We will note that there is no attempt to provide a summary of what the members of the public
    said.
    I understand that providing a summary of what a speaker said can be problematic.
     Listing the times when the public did speak may be an “in-between”
    compromise that accomplishes the aim of having public comment be accessible via the video. Without
    knowledge of the time, searching through a video for one speaker is cumbersome.
     From my point of view, to only have action minutes — while acceptable by law — is very
    unsatisfactory from the public’s perspective. In terms of ranking, from less desirable to more
    desirable, we have:
    1. Action minutes only. “Public comment was taken.”
    2. Action minutes with the number of speakers. “Public comment was taken. There were
    4 speakers.”
    3. Action minutes with the names. ” Public comment was taken. There were 5 speakers:
    Jim Becker, Patricia Cambianica, Fred Weis, Gregory Daggett, one online speaker – name
    unknown.”
    4. Action minutes with names and time on the video, as shown below.
    2
     If this is outside of what the Commission and Staff want to do, I understand. I had
    mentioned at the February 14th meeting that I could do this. What is below is an example.
    Thank you.
    — Fred Weis
    [From the February
    =============================================
    Planning Commission meeting: February 14, 2023
    Public Comment speakers
    Times may not be exact. The times are based on the video for that date that can be accessed through the City
    of Arcata “Meeting Calendar” page.
    https://arcataca.iqm2.com/Citizens/calendar.aspx
    CITY OF ARCATA PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
    Council Chamber
    February 14, 2023 Tuesday, 6:00 p.m
    AGENDA
    II. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 6:01
    Members of the public who provided comment: 4
    Jim Becker 6:39
    Gregory Daggett 8:07
    Patricia Cambianica 11:16. Ceded time to Fred Weis
    Fred Weis 11:29
    No on-line comment.
    VI. BUSINESS ITEMS. 19:26
    [This was moved to be taken up prior to discussion of the General Plan Land Use and Growth Management
    Element Updates]
    1. Consider Planning Commission Minutes Format and Level of Detail
    Members of the public who provided comment: 4
    Jim Becker 45:08
    Patricia Cambianica 46:39
    Fred Weis 48:30
    Gregory Daggett 51:16
    V. PUBLIC HEARINGS. 57:50
    A. Discuss the General Plan Update with Emphasis on the Land Use and Growth Management Element Updates
    Members of the public who provided comment: 3
    Fred Weis 2:01:31
    Gregory Daggett 2:03:34
    3
    Lisa Brown (online) 2:07:18
    =============================================