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When the members of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors voted last month to approve the creation of a Municipal Advisory Council for Alamo, it was believed that community groups such as the Alamo Community Council would fade away, their functions absorbed by the incoming MAC.
Such is not the case, according to officials with District 3 Supervisor Mary N. Piepho’s office.
At the Thursday meeting of the ACC, Piepho’s Chief of Staff Tomi Van de Brooke gave an update on the process of choosing MAC members.
“Right now we have 20-25 applicants,” Van de Brooke confirmed. “I’m not sure when it will get on the Board’s agenda.”
Applications are being accepted until Sept. 15, after which Van de Brooke and other members of Piepho’s staff will examine the list of applicants and come up with a recommended list of seven members for the new MAC. Piepho will then either interview candidates with whom she may not be familiar or she will move ahead with the list of members and seek approval from the Board of Supervisors.
“The 25th of September is probably too tight,” Van de Brooke advised. “But if I don’t get it done by the middle of October I will be very disappointed.”
The question raised by ACC members, given the time frame of creating the MAC, was whether they should plan an October meeting or not. Van de Brooke suggested the group move ahead with an Oct. 8 meeting, regardless of the situation with the MAC.
“If the MAC is formed we’ll invite a member to attend,” she suggested.
The question arose as to whether it would be possible to invite the entire MAC to the Oct. 8 meeting. Van de Brooke said that since the MAC would be bound by the Brown Act, she would need to check on how that would work and how much notice would needed if the MAC members were to attend the ACC meeting.
Afterward, Van de Brooke was asked about the future of the ACC and its place in Alamo once a MAC is established.
“The Alamo Community Council is a cross-sharing group that shares information on all the different organizations that Supervisor Piepho’s office has traditionally sent the agendas out,” she stated. “The group has agreed to meet again in October and what I heard tonight is that we’ll evolve into how it interfaces with the MAC in the future.”
Van de Brooke added that the supervisor’s office is a strong supporter of the efforts of the ACC and it intends to remain involved at some level even after the MAC comes into existence.
“They are a great information-sharing organization and the spirit of that needs to continue. Although in what form that is I’m not sure and that’s not something that we would necessarily attempt to dictate,” she said. “We don’t want to lose things, we don’t want to make absolutes, so allow it to evolve naturally and see how it goes.”
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Dear Dolores,
I am assured that Tomi wants to comment about the majority that does not currently participate in the Alamo Community Council or will participate in the MAC. How does district 3 plan to engage neighborhoods in district 3 outreach that only includes ACC and a MAC??
Neighborhoods would welcome Tomi’s outreach,
Hal
Simple Hal, they don’t (she doesn’t).
Dear Dolores,
I just read the considerations of neighborhoods’ discussion groups in progress today. E-exchanges wonder what purpose the Alamo Community Council (ACC) provides without majority participation and with district 3’s agenda control. When district 3 concluded the Alamo Area Council ably led by Karen McPherson, district 3 supervisor and staff lost all identity with Alamo’s majority and their neighborhood groups. More importantly, an independent Alamo Area Council was continued by neighborhoods as the Alamo neighborhoods forum and today as the Diablo Vista region neighborhoods forum.
Would you please augment your story and explain the value of ACC to the majority in our region?
Hal
Why so much negativity from you, Randy and Hal? You should check with the other District 3 MAC’s to see how well they are working. I guess though it will be disappointing to you to find out they are operating just fine and really happy with their supervisor.
…or you can just keep trying to convince yourselves that this is a bad thing. Geeeeeeesh.
Dear Dolores,
July/August interviews with current and former MAC members in Diablo, Byron, Knightzen and onward to Pacheco and several more are available at CDSI INFO, halbailey@yahoo.com. Neighborhoods counsel’s analysts conducted the study and it was repeated in interviews with the same members and neighborhood reps in their communities by a major news service research division.
As you develop further stories on an Alamo MAC, the research provides the key to any success for the seven district 3 volunteers that will staff the MAC. Studies concluded that recognition, support and participation by the community of neighborhoods depends on the outreach of district 3 and MAC members in our community.
The Alamo Community Council failed in such outreach and so did R-7A and Z-36. Your journalism can tell about such failure and how changes in outreach can determine success for the MAC.
Hal
I forgot about the secret squirrel squad that conducts all this research. Neighborhood counsel? CSDI? C’mon get real!
I bet the Danville Weekly knows they can attend a meeting in any of the named communities and gather the information firsthand. That is the beauty of a public meeting. It is free from your innuendo and imagination Hal.
Dear Dolores,
Your readers have the opportunity to contact real people, not pseudonyms, and real addresses beyond your forum to gain in-depth presentation of MAC applicants, their profiles, allegiances, and public commentary. CIRCA Distribution Services Institute (CDSI) Research Fellowship offers direct access to CDSI INFO: halbailey@yahoo.com, including major news services as members of CDSI.
CDSI Members, under their commercial names and contact information, will offer credentials and information that your readers may use in determining their relationship with an ongoing Alamo Community Council and Alamo Municipal Advisory Council.
Your readers are invited to contact CDSI INFO: halbailey@yahoo.com and receive detailed information that they may judge for validity.
Hal
And let me guess it all goes directly through you Hal? Now that makes for some reliable and unbiased information!
I’ll make sure to get in line. Oh wait, there is no line?
…crickets chirping.