Council member announces commission to review mayor’s neighborhood reinvestment initiative

An unidentified councilmember said the city will form a commission to review the mayor’s neighborhood reinvestment initiative and advise on how projects should be structured, funded and timed.

The councilmember said the commission will include nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, commercial and business groups, government officials and experts in areas such as affordable housing. "We are putting the commission together to bring together...the nonprofit, philanthropic organizations, the commercial and business organizations, the government officials, and people who have expertise in whether it's affordable housing," the councilmember said.

The speaker said the commission will examine all proposed projects and the initiative’s overarching goals and will work with the administration and the council "to make sure that we're using the right mechanisms" to achieve the success the mayor and council want. "The commission will present the recommendations to the council and the administration and then we'll take it from there," the councilmember said, noting that any decisions about timelines or funding mechanisms will be up to the mayor and the council.

No specific timelines, funding amounts or formal votes were offered during the remarks; the councilmember described the council’s role as assisting the administration and conducting due diligence to support a successful rollout. The council’s next steps appear to depend on the commission’s recommendations and subsequent action by the mayor and council.