Committee Discusses Workplan Priorities: Jobs pipeline, CDBG‑Doctor, advisory board roles

Ben (city staff) briefed the committee on a draft fiscal‑year workplan that aligns the PEDE committee’s agenda with the council’s four recovery priorities (economy; infrastructure & environment; people & housing; implementation). Ben proposed sequencing several items this year, including riverfront revitalization policy, CDBG‑Doctor economic revitalization programming, and updates to the comp plan and UDO.

Councilmember Moroney (committee member) recommended creating a regular “jobs pipeline” data product — analogous to a housing pipeline — that would consolidate data from city departments and partner agencies (EDC, Chamber, Land of Sky Regional Council) to track job creation, tax incentives, development pipeline and workforce needs. Ben and staff said they have begun outreach to partners and plan to present a quarterly data update; staff suggested September as the earliest reasonable start for a quarterly reporting cadence.

Members also discussed advisory boards’ roles in executing the workplan: staff recommended engaging advisory boards on discrete task assignments (for example, Urban Forestry Commission on an urban forestry master plan) and using advisory boards to advance technical and engagement tasks. Ben cautioned that the committee’s plate is full and suggested staff would rely on partner organizations and advisory boards to help execute some workplan elements.

On CDBG‑Doctor funds, staff said program guidelines and small‑business support programming are under development and that staff will return in August–September to report progress and operationalize grant disbursement. Councilmembers requested specifics on workforce development linkages (local training/providers such as AB Tech and IBEW apprenticeships were mentioned) and asked staff to coordinate with the weekly business service provider group that aggregates partner updates.