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Commission raises concerns after consultant’s needs-assessment report; staff outlines March and April review steps
Summary
Commissioners said they had not received the consultant Rhema’s final needs-assessment report and expressed concern about being left out of the process. Staff said Rhema is finalizing presentation edits and that the planning team will review the report in mid-March; a broader public workshop is planned for April.
Members of the commission pressed city staff on when the final needs-assessment report from consultant Rhema would be shared with the full commission and the public.
A staff member said Rhema had delivered a draft of the report and that leadership had requested non-substantive presentation edits (font, color, legibility). Staff described a schedule in which Rhema will send the edited report to the planning team on March 14; the planning team would then meet March 19 for a deeper review, and a public planning workshop would be held in April.
Several commissioners said they were surprised they had not received the report earlier and said the commission— which initiated the process—should receive the data prior to public release. “We have been left out of a process that we started, and we’re still left out of a process that we started,” one commissioner said, adding that the planning team’s review seemed to allow council members a direct advisory role while the commission’s broader membership remained without the same visibility.
Staff acknowledged the concern and said the reason the wider group had not yet received the report was that leadership had asked Rhema to make presentational edits before broader distribution. Staff offered to forward the emails and to request Rhema send the report to all commission members before March 14 if possible. The staff member also said that those on the planning team would be asked to help prepare for the April planning workshop.
Commissioners discussed options for input: they may submit comments by email, call a special meeting to review the report before the April workshop, or participate at the March 19 planning-team session (staff said commission members could attend, but noted more than three commissioners attending would create a quorum and limit the ability to take action). Staff said the council would ultimately consider and prioritize Rhema’s recommendations for implementation.
No formal action was taken at the March 6 meeting on the needs-assessment report; commissioners requested clearer communication and earlier access to the consultant’s final report.
