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The Livermore City Council is set to hold a special workshop Monday to narrow down the list of prospects vying to join the General Plan Advisory Committee after the city garnered more than twice as many applications as spots available.
After a nearly five-week recruitment process that ended on Sept. 7, the city received 48 applications from community members who want to be considered for the committee, according to the staff agenda report.
The city’s General Plan — a long-range policy document for growth, land use, sustainability and resource and open space conservation — is typically updated within 10-20 years. Livermore’s current General Plan was adopted in 2004, approximately 17 years ago.
According to city staff, a comprehensive General Plan update is required due to the age of the current document and the data that supports it — such as traffic and environmental impact studies — as well as changes to external conditions such as market trends and regional and state policies. The City Council also cited updating the General Plan as one of its priorities back in March.
There are 15 spots on the advisory committee with an additional four spots for alternates.
At its Sept. 13 regular meeting, the council approved the committee selection process, which includes the upcoming workshop where City Council will choose 30 of the 48 applicants to participate in interviews.
Those who are chosen to participate in the interview process will be notified on Sept. 21 and they will receive an assigned interview date and time along with the finalized list of questions. The interviews are set to take place on three different days, including Sept. 28, Sept. 30 and Oct. 7.
The council will also finalize five questions to ask each applicant during the interview. Council members each independently provided staff with two different interview questions which were revised and combined by city staff after identifying common themes.
The staff-recommended list of questions are as follows:
1. Why would you be a good choice for the General Plan Update advisory committee and what one word best describes what you would bring to the Committee?
2. In your opinion, what is the purpose of the General Plan and what do you consider the Committee’s primary responsibility?
3. How would you serve the needs of the many diverse residents of this community, even if at times it may go against your personal preferences?
4. What aspects of Livermore are the most important, require the most attention, or have changed the most since the adoption of the last General Plan in 2004 that should be considered for the General Plan Update and why?
5. Explain your experience in reviewing complex information and providing feedback. How do you share complex and technical information to audiences of varying education and experience levels?
The virtual special workshop is set for Monday (Sept. 20) at 5 p.m. More information and access links can be found here.
