Notes/Business – Archive | Tucson Residents for Responsive Government

TRRG Board Meeting – November 2, 2017 – Notes

TRRG Board Meeting – August 23, 2017 (continuation of August 3, 2017 meeting) – Notes

TRRG Board Meeting – August 3, 2017 – Agenda Notes

TRRG Board Meeting – May 4, 2017 – Notes

TRRG Annual Meeting – April 29, 2017 – Agenda Notes

TRRG Board Meeting – February 2, 2017 – Agenda Notes

TRRG Board Meeting to Discuss Bylaws – December 15, 2016 – Notes

TRRG Board Meeting – October 27, 2016 – 5:00 PM – Ward 6 – Agenda Notes

TRRG September 20, 2016 Call to the Audience on Sign Code, Code Enforcement and Public Process – Statement

TRRG Board Meeting – August 2, 2016 – 5:00 PM – Ward 6 – Agenda Notes

TRRG @ Two Meeting – June 4, 2016 – Ward 6 – 1:00 – 3:30 PM Notes

TRRG Board Meeting – May 5, 2016 – 6:30 PM – Ward 6 – Agenda Notes

Notes from the TRRG Annual Meeting of April 30, 2016
Noon-3:00 PM – Ward 6 – Agenda

The Annual Meeting featured a progress report from President Ruth Beeker and others on issues being worked on by TRRG:

*As of April 30, 2016, TRRG membership is at 93; there are currently 26 Friends

*The Keys to Collaboration Task Force, featuring both TRRG members and city staff, met several times, working on enhancing the mechanisms for collaboration between city staff and resident groups. Presentation

*The TRRG Code Enforcement Committee has had several meetings with Code enforcement officials. Presentation

*A proposal was made for a new TRRG project – Improving Public Participation in Transportation Planning. Presentation

*A study group composed of TRRG members and city staff is doing a case study of five City Boards, Commissions and Committees (BCC), doing questionnaires of the participants, and examining processes. The findings will be used to inform how to deal with BCC reform.

*The TRRG Process Task Force studied citizen participation in Mayor and Council meetings and produced a report with findings and recommendations for improvement. Mayor and Council Participation Study – Executive Summary & Recommendations – Report

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The Business Meeting was convened at 2:40 PM.

Minutes of the 2015 Annual Meeting were approved.

Treasurer’s Report was approved: $621.89 is funds on hand as of 4/29.

The slate of Board members proposed was unanimously elected

New: Tina Pacheco and Mark Homan
Re-elected: Barbara Lehmann, JD Garcia, Bonnie Poulos, Lisa Jones
Continuing: Ruth Beeker, Oscar Gandy, Bill Ford, Kris Yarter, Don Ijams

A survey/input sheet on future issues for TRRG to pursue was distributed and collected. The results will be discussed on June 4th at a special meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:50 PM.

TRRG Board Nominees

The TRRG annual Board of Directors election will be held at our Annual Meeting on
April 30, 2016. This year, the Nominating Committee consists of Oscar Gandy and Kristine Yarter. The TRRG Nominating Committee is submitting the following slate of candidates to be voted on by the TRRG membership at this year’s Annual Meeting: Nominees

Letter sent to Tucson Mayor and Council on March 27, 2016

Dear Mayor and Council,

On March 22, 2016, I perceived a distinct contrast between how you view City function and how citizens experience it.

During your study session discussions on Items 3 and 4, I heard repeated requests for assurance from staff that there would be public process incorporated into any of the proposed changes in land use regulations and financial incentives. The March 23 NewsNet Daily Digest, reporting on the Government Property Lease Excise Tax (GPLET), stated, “With yesterday’s approval, City staff can proceed with public meetings and public hearings to expand the GPLET area to other parts of the city.”

During your regular session call-to-audience, I heard five citizens share with you their concerns about city practices for public meetings and public hearings as currently conducted. Three expressed frustration related to HENP Fry’s project — accuracy of the developers’ information at neighborhood public meetings and completeness of testimony taken at public hearings. Two addressed problems with the Broadway Corridor — lack of staff follow-through from public input, objective data, or Council direction; and lack of notification now and in the past. These examples, which are not unique to these individuals or projects, point to serious problems regarding transparency, accountability and collaboration.

On behalf of the TRRG Board of Directors, I urge you to get the City’s house in order before you extend public meetings and public hearings to other locations for any purpose. When these opportunities are poorly administered, developers are seen as lacking integrity, staff is seen as incompetent, and your concern for public process appears disingenuous.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if TRRG can provide a public perspective on how to improve these important elements of good City government.

Respectfully,

Ruth Beeker, Chair of Tucson Residents for Responsive Government Board

TRRG Board Meeting – February 4, 2016 – 6:30 PM – Ward 6 – Agenda Notes

TRRG Board Meeting – November 5, 2015 – 6:30 PM – Ward 6 – Agenda Notes

TRRG Board Meeting – August 6, 2015 – 6:30 PM – Ward 6 – Agenda Notes

TRRG Board Meeting – May 7, 2015 – 6:30 PM – Ward 6 – Agenda Notes

Notes – TRRG Annual Meeting of April 25, 2015 – Noon-3:00 PM – Ward 6 – Agenda

A quorum was present (42 persons, 33 TRRG members) in the Ward 6 Community Room. Invited guests: Nicole Ewing-Gavin and Rebecca Ruopp from the City of Tucson’s Office of Integrated Planning (OIP). Other guests: Council Aide Lannie Patel from Ward 4, Council Aide Ana Rodriquez from Ward 1, Council Aide Ted Prezelski from Ward 4, Councilperson Steve Kozachik, and three Pinetop-Lakeside citizens from the Peoples Voice Committee seeking to learn from TRRG’s experience: Robert Ingels, Mark Jacobs and Janet Velikange.

The meeting included lunch and started with an excellent workshop entitled “Keys to Collaboration,” led by the OIP staff. This workshop started with having each group member describe an experience which subsequently led to a successful collaboration. The small groups then chose the principal characteristics of that experience and reported back to the whole group. These characteristics were then compiled and ranked by the whole group (here). Group members were then asked to suggest areas where there might be productive collaboration with the City of Tucson, which are listed here. Currently active OIP initiatives where there is the opportunity for collaboration are listed here.

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The workshop was followed by the Annual business meeting, which was called to order at 2:25 by TRRG Chair Ruth Beeker. The current Board of Directors and officers were introduced. Among the handouts at the meeting was a summary of TRRG’s accomplishments during its first year.

The minutes of the May 1st, 2014 meeting (available at the bottom of this TRRG web page) were unanimously approved as distributed. The Treasurer’s report was also unanimously approved. Chair Beeker then introduced some changes to the TRRG By-Laws as recommended by the Board of Directors. After some discussion, these changes were approved. The resultant modified By-Laws are here.

Next, the slate of Board Candidates was introduced. The group proceeded to unanimously elect all six of the candidates [Ruth Beeker, Bill Ford renewing, and Cecilia Cruz, Oscar Gandy, Donald Ijams and Kristine Yarter, new]. They will join the four ongoing members [JD Garcia, Lisa Jones, Barbara Lehman and Bonnie Poulos]. After some discussion of future meeting locations, the meeting was adjourned at 3:10 PM. Respectfully submitted by JD Garcia, Secretary.

March 25, 2015

The TRRG annual Board of Directors election will be held at our Annual Meeting on April 25, 2015. Currently the TRRG board consists of six members, Chair Ruth Beeker, Co-Chair Bonnie Poulos, Secretary JD Garcia, Treasurer Barbara Lehmann, Bill Ford and Lisa Jones. The Board may have up to eleven but no fewer than five members.

Board members are elected for two year terms. However, Ruth and Bill chose to initially hold one-year terms in order to stagger terms ensuring continuation of historical knowledge on the TRRG Board. Bonnie, JD, Barbara and Lisa are continuing on the Board as they have two year terms.

The TRRG Nominating Committee is submitting the following slate of nominees to be voted on by the TRRG membership at the Annual Meeting on April 25, 2015. In accordance with the TRRG Bylaws, any member of TRRG may self-nominate or nominate another candidate to be put on the slate up to three (3) weeks prior to the Annual Meeting (April 4th) by contacting the nominating committee chairperson Barbara Lehmann. Please review the nominees’ accompanying bios and be prepared to vote at the Annual Meeting.

Thank you for your participation and membership in TRRG. We look forward to seeing you on April 25th!

2015 Slate of Nominees

Ruth Beeker	Cecilia Cruz
Bill Ford	Oscar Gandy
Donald Ijams	Kristine Yarter

Proposed By Laws Revisions to be considered at the April 25, 2015 Annual Meeting

Board Agenda – February 5, 2015 Notes

January 20, 2015

TRRG Board Member Bill Ford reports that “on January 20, 2015, Bill Craig and I attended the Sam Hughes Neighborhood Meeting in which approximately 50 residents and guests were in attendance. The main topic, dearest to TRRG is the Broadway Corridor Process, presented by task force member, Mary Durham-Pfibsen. Her positive summation of the 2 1/2 year process was met with concern, pointing to the start of the design phase which appears to be devoid of resident participation.

Bill C. and I introduced TRRG after the election of SMNHA’s board members of which Mr. Craig is one. We pointed out the obvious reasons to be a TRRG member and some history. This is our 2nd neighborhood presentation as a committee function committee. It appears to be a good model to follow. Bonnie Poulos is the committee chair. We are moving towards having a committee member for each of the 6 wards for a 2015 goal with perhaps 50 visits this year to NHA’s within these wards. TRRG has been endorsed by 22 NHA’s and community groups Our membership count is nearing 100 members and should be easily doubled before the end of 2015.”