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Public urges reopening of Transportation Advisory Board after council pauses appointments
Summary
A resident urged the Auburn City Council to resume applications to the Transportation Advisory Board, saying the board provides important oversight on street safety; the mayor said the city paused appointments while staff reviews the board’s structure to protect grant funding.
A resident told the Auburn City Council on May 19 that pausing applications to the Transportation Advisory Board removes an important avenue for community oversight of street safety and urged the city to reopen applications.
"I think traffic safety is taken seriously enough," Yuval Fleming, an Auburn resident, told the council. Fleming said he wants the city to consider measures such as lowering residential speed limits and that he had intended to apply for the advisory board. He added that "there's currently several vacancies on the Transportation Advisory Board" and that the board at its most recent meeting had "barely able to hold a quorum."
Mayor Nancy Backus responded that the city is "reviewing the Transportation Advisory Board to see if it is meeting the needs of the community" and that appointments are on pause while staff determine the committee’s proper makeup and to ensure continued eligibility for transportation grant funds. "It's not that the Transportation Advisory Board is going away," the mayor said. "We're going to look and see what it should look like."
When Fleming asked whether new federal regulations concerning diversity, equity and inclusion prompted the pause, the mayor said "language is part of it," but reminded the public comment period is not a back-and-forth dialogue.
The council did not take a formal vote on the board's status during the meeting. No timeline or specific changes to the Transportation Advisory Board's composition were announced.
