So, just in time for the next meeting, my thoughts on the last meeting. Sorry about that.

Leopold was a no show so it was all about CEDO. Larry and Ita.

With Larry, there was a lot of discussion about development concerns regarding privacy vs. public knowledge. I brought up the point that many have made, that getting neighbors involved and informed, specifically the NPAs, would go a long way towards relieving the stress on the adversarial positions that developers and neighborhoods seem to take more often than not.

I asked if there was a bright line in the sand/process where the public had an undenialble right to know. the answer I got was not that clear, though I must admit, I wasn't expecting a clear answer. Larry and Ken Schwartz have each said that Burlington is a tough town for developers (from a developer point of view). I don't disagree with that. I'm not ashamed or proud of that. I would expect that. Building a large scale commercial project outside of downtown, commercial or Neighborhood Activity Centers should be difficult to accomplish and should be subject to the opinion of the residential neighborhood involved. Burlington has room to grow, if it's done wisely. 

Ita, just plain Rocks!

There should be no doubt that Ita represents the best of what CEDO has to offer the common Burlintonian. Now we just have to figure out how to get the word out, and make Ita very busy. Sorry Ita. 

This session was crammed full of information. In my opinion, too crammed. Fitting four presenters into a 2.25 hour meeting doesn't leave much time for Q&A, though I was glad to see the public get their chance to ask questions and make comments.

Tim Ashe was the MC for this meeting, and did a good job directing traffic and keeping us on schedule.  After settleing the ground rules for the night, Ken Schatz started his presentation on the law side of Open Government. He talked about the minimum legal requirements compared with present practices, including committee, commission and board appointments, public notice for meetings and definitions of meetings. All in all, it was pretty illuminating from a legal prespective.

Next up to bat was Tim Barden. Tim had a great presentation on a subject that needs a meeting of it's own*. Being a geek, this one was key for me. The biggest thing I learned from this was the scope of the number of websites, that may or may not, fall under the City of Burlington's umbrella. For instance, Fletch Free Library was listed as an institution that might be under this umbrella. A Library resource  under Government control raises a flag. I would need some sort of guarantee of autonomy for FFL before I would recommend this course.

After Tim was  Kristin Lonerwright, the HR Director for City Employees. I wasn't quite sure why she was asked to present, though she did a great job of spelling out what was public and private information.

Batting cleanup was David White, Planning and Zoning Director. He had a great Power Point presentation (that we should be getting a copy of). Development issues need to have a meeting of their own*.

*I'll be making a formal motion that these two topics be covered extensively. Hopefully with meetings of their own.