January 22, 2009 - To facilitate development of a process for selecting the 8 neighborhood representatives to the new Neighborhood and Community Engagement Commission, the NRP Policy Board adopted a resolution at its November 24, 2008 meeting authorizing NRP staff to invite representatives from each neighborhood organization to a meeting to discuss the selection process for neighborhood members on the Commission.

On November 26, 2008, Policy Board Chair Gail Dorfman and NRP Director Bob Miller informed neighborhood organizations about plans to hold this discussion on February 21, 2009 and asked each to adopt a resolution of support and participation in this discussion, identify representatives to the meeting and provide ideas for selecting the neighborhood representatives.

The November 24 Policy Board resolution stipulates that at least 60% of the eligible neighborhood organizations must agree to participate in order to convene the meeting. Organizations who do not provide a resolution by January 30th will be counted as voting no on holding the February 21 meeting.

To date approximately 20 organizations have drafted resolutions of support. If more organizations do not respond by January 30, 2009, the February 21st meeting will be cancelled.

Although NRP staff is facilitating the convening of this meeting, this will not be an NRP meeting. It is an opportunity for neighborhood organizations to begin the discussion about selecting representatives to the Neighborhood and Community Engagement Commission. There will be a third party facilitator for the meeting and any decisions made will be up to the representatives of the neighborhoods that attend.

NRP has received a number of questions regarding points presented in the November 26 letter. The responses below were developed after discussions with the neighborhood representatives to the Policy Board.

Q. Who will be eligible to participate (and vote on any proposed neighborhood representative selection process) on February 21?

A. Any neighborhood organization with whom NRP is contracting for preparation or implementation of a neighborhood action plan may send representatives.

Q. How will NRP ensure that the participants represent Neighborhood Organizations?

A. Neighborhood organizations are being asked to submit the names and contact information for their representatives to the February 21 meeting. The representatives submitted by each neighborhood organization will be invited to the February 21 meeting and will be the only participants allowed to vote on any matters coming before the group.

Q. How many votes will each neighborhood organization have?

A. Each neighborhood organization will have one vote for each neighborhood represented by the neighborhood organization (i.e. one neighborhood = one vote).

For example, the Whittier Alliance will have one vote because it represents the Whittier neighborhood. The Longfellow Community Council will have four votes because it represents the Cooper, Howe, Hiawatha, and Longfellow neighborhoods. Each neighborhood organization will select the representatives to vote on behalf of its neighborhood(s). A neighborhood organization with more than one neighborhood may select one representative to cast votes for all of its neighborhoods or have a different representative for each neighborhood that it includes. This decision will be made by the neighborhood organization.

Q. What happens if 60% of the neighborhoods approve the resolution to hold a meeting but a smaller number send representatives to the actual meeting?

A. The meeting will be held with the representatives that attend. The representatives that attend will determine the next steps in the selection
process.

November 26, 2008 Letter From Gail Dorfman and Bob Miller
January 5, 2009 Letter from Bob Miller



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