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Staff proposes ordinance changes to remove automatic neighborhood appointments, expand East Side board
Summary
City staff presented proposed amendments to the East Side Redevelopment Board enabling ordinance that would remove automatic appointments by neighborhood associations, expand the board from five to seven members, and align requirements with the CRA board handbook; board members and neighborhood representatives asked for further discussion before the item goes to council.
Don Kreher, introduced by CRA staff, outlined proposed updates to the East Side Redevelopment Board enabling ordinance intended to standardize appointment processes across CRA boards. "We proposed to remove any individual association direct appointment," Kreher said, explaining the change would require council appointment after a board recommendation, rather than allowing an association to place a member automatically.
Kreher said the revisions are intended to bring the East Side board into alignment with the board handbook and other CRA boards, and to increase the board's membership from five to seven to broaden representation. He also flagged a technical problem with an ex officio council member counting toward a quorum despite not voting; staff will amend the ordinance language to avoid creating a nonvoting quorum issue.
Board members and neighborhood representatives pressed for clarity about maintaining neighborhood voice. Jeanie Roden, president of the Eastside Neighborhood Association, said the association wanted its representation to continue to be meaningful and asked staff to revisit the original charter language. "The language that was written from the inception, I think we need to go back from inception when we came before council," Roden said, requesting that staff and the association review the founding language together.
Staff and council-affiliated members said the change would not remove neighborhood representation but would add a formal application and council appointment step so that council could follow removal and attendance rules consistently. Kreher and staff said they will schedule a follow-up meeting with Roden and the council president before the ordinance goes to the CRA board or city council.
No formal ordinance was adopted at the meeting; staff characterized the presentation as an update and asked for further discussion prior to any council submittal.
