|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Livermore City Council selected its top 30 contenders to interview for the new General Plan Advisory Committee during a special workshop Monday evening.
The city initially received 48 applications following a nearly five-week recruitment period. Since then, two applicants withdrew, leaving a total of 46 prospects for the council to consider, which was still more than twice as many applications as spots available on the committee.
Monday’s workshop marked the first step in the selection process approved by the council at its Sept. 13 regular meeting. In an effort to exhibit fairness, each councilmember selected their top six candidates to interview, one at a time, in a random and rotating six-round sequence until 30 individuals were selected to interview.
The council will be tasked with narrowing down the list even further as there are only 15 spots available on the advisory committee with an additional four spots for alternates.
Among those who moved forward in the process were former Livermore mayor John Marchand, Unify Livermore CEO Asa Strout, Livermore Pride co-founder Tracy Kronzak, Tri-Valley Conservancy chair David Kent and former City Councilmember and Planning Commissioner Steven Spedowfski.
After making their selections, Mayor Bob Woerner and Councilmember Bob Carling urged applicants who were not chosen to consider other avenues to get involved in the community.
“To everyone who applied, I’m very impressed with all the applicants and we only had a certain many to get through this phase and I hope that those who weren’t selected will continue to participate as we go along here. There will be other opportunities,” Woerner said.
Carling said he agreed with Woerner. “I appreciate the time and the effort that people put into filing out the applications and, like you — and I’m sure our colleagues — hope that they take advantage of the opportunities to give back to the city in a variety of different ways, including advisory boards,” Carling said.
“We’re always looking for people to serve on advisory boards and so, although I’m sure you’re disappointed in not being able to be interviewed for the General Plan, please keep your eye out for opportunities advertised in various places, including the newspaper and on the (city) website for advisory board appointees,” he added.
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.
In addition to establishing the advisory committee, the city has launched a community-wide effort to encourage residents, businesses and community groups to weigh in on the vision and guiding principles that will result in the General Plan Update.
Running through Sept. 26, the visioning outreach effort includes a virtual workshop, an outdoor open house, two pop-up events and online activities, according to city officials.
“A top priority for the council for ensuring a successful outcome is an equitable outreach process that allows the broadest range of voices to be heard,” Woerner said of the initiative in a statement.
At the workshop Monday, council also selected the five questions that they will ask interviewees for the advisory committee. Ahead of the meeting, council members each independently provided staff with two different interview questions, which were revised and combined by city staff after identifying common themes.
Each councilmember chose one question they liked most from either their original list or from the staff generated list and then they collectively reviewed them, slightly modifying some of the language.
The finalized list of questions is as follows:
1. 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?
2. What is the purpose of the General Plan and how is it used to guide decision-making?
3. 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?
4. Why would you be a good choice for the GP Update advisory committee and what one word best describes what you would bring to the committee?
5. What are the top one to two issues that need addressing in Livermore through the GP Update and how are you a good match for the task at hand?
After unanimously approving the questions, the council voted to allow Woerner to reorder them in a sequence that he finds most appropriate.
The 30 interviewees will receive an assigned interview date and time along with the list of questions. The interviews are set to take place on three different days, including Sept. 28, Sept. 30 and Oct. 7.
A complete recording of Monday night’s workshop is available here. More information about the city’s community outreach initiative is available here.
They really are nothing but a bunch of bumbling morons. And its no surprise that this woke council dominated by harpies that have never had real jobs, can’t understand how to do their jobs managing a medium sized city.
What in the world do they know about hiring – they’ve never hired anyone in their lives.