COUNCIL WATCH…
A Report on Council

Notes and commentary on the 3/30/09 Petaluma Council Meeting presented by the Council Watch Team of Petaluma Tomorrow

Agenda Item: Discussion and Possible Direction on Development Advisory Committee Recommendations (More/White) – Moved from the March 16, 2009 City Council Meeting.

What’s at Stake: Triggered by adoption of the new General Plan and by requests from the Chamber of Commerce, developers and citizens; the City Council appointed a committee to make recommendations to update and streamline elements of the City’s Development Codes. The results of the Development Code Advisory Committee (DCAC)
to be approved by the Council will be adapted in revised codes and procedures. The most controversial aspect was delegating approval authority to the Site Plan and Architectural Committee and the Planning Commission to give final approval for development projects requiring EIR’s or FEIA’s.

Public Comment: Following a brief introduction of the DCAC proposal, 8 of the 15 speakers commented on reasons the Council should retain final approval authority, the remaining comments were a diverse range of problems and commentaries.

Council Comments and Votes: The Council first considered the Tree, Historic and Green Building Rules. The bulk of comments were on the Green Building rules and ended in asking the Committee to develop further details about what other cities are doing as well as pending State regulations. The next issue was final decision responsibility on Central Petaluma Specific Plan (CPSP) projects that need warrants or exceptions. The matter of allowing SPARC/Planning to fully exercise warrants or exceptions to codes brought out many considerations and led to a vote for Council responsibility: 6 to 1, Rabbitt opposing. The final discussion was on the procedure for larger developments requiring EIR’s or FEIA”s which featured the developer meeting with the neighborhood at the outset to fit the project to neighborhood concerns and SPARC/Planning allowed to give final approval. After much discussion by each Council Member and many ideas, Glass “Called the Question”, a parliamentary means of putting the matter to a vote for the Council to exercise final authority. The vote was 5 to 2, Rabbitt and Healy opposing.

In the course these discussions, the idea of combining SPARC and Planning received considerable comment in the effort to speed up the development process.
City Manager Brown was asked to develop means to achieve this.

Analysis: Unfortunately due to costs, Staff cutbacks and the four-day week the DCAC
was unable to complete it’s task. However, much was accomplished in the effort to update Codes and conform processes to the new General Plan. In the course of the
Council comment exchanges, Councilman Rabbitt consistently sought to reduce the
Council’s role in development decisions.

reading these most current notes....i have lost all respect for petaluma tomorrow. the agenda is very clear here, the notes are so skewed, so biased it is pathetic. i consider myself very middle of the road on development.....it is obvious that petaluma tomorrow is NOT middle of the road, not looking for solutions, not looking to be proactive, only looking to obstruct, it is an extreme group. try to speak and be reasonable, try to be transparent, try to be open...push for open government and they call label you as in a developers pocket. they do more back-door dealings than anyone. they claim they are all about open government, all about transparency and for the people but it is all a farse. open/transparent government....reality is that these are things that petaluma tomorrow is totally AGAINST! only open when it suites them but most of their dealings and actions come from back door meetings. petaluma tomorrow and/or the person(s) responsible for these post should be ashamed of themselves. all petaluma residents should look on how we all can come together and work towards developing better projects, be proactive and work as a team. instead, all petaluma tomorrow does is bash council members and look for ways to stop any type of development, responsible or not. so sad, so disappointing.

quote:

Originally posted by ptlmafrnd:
reading these most current notes....i have lost all respect for petaluma tomorrow. the agenda is very clear here, the notes are so skewed, so biased it is pathetic. i consider myself very middle of the road on development.....it is obvious that petaluma tomorrow is NOT middle of the road, not looking for solutions, not looking to be proactive, only looking to obstruct, it is an extreme group. try to speak and be reasonable, try to be transparent, try to be open...push for open government and they call label you as in a developers pocket. they do more back-door dealings than anyone. they claim they are all about open government, all about transparency and for the people but it is all a farse. open/transparent government....reality is that these are things that petaluma tomorrow is totally AGAINST! only open when it suites them but most of their dealings and actions come from back door meetings. petaluma tomorrow and/or the person(s) responsible for these post should be ashamed of themselves. all petaluma residents should look on how we all can come together and work towards developing better projects, be proactive and work as a team. instead, all petaluma tomorrow does is bash council members and look for ways to stop any type of development, responsible or not. so sad, so disappointing.

They Bash certain Council members. They are perfect "FAR" Left-propagandists. They are the Attack Dogs. They protect the Socialistic members of the Council and character assassinate the moderate or consevative ones for simply having a different opinion. They are not "Petaluma for Tomorrow"...them using our towns name is an insult. They are "Marxists for Tomorrow"..and they can go to hell!

quote:

Originally posted by PitBull:

quote:

Originally posted by ptlmafrnd:
reading these most current notes....i have lost all respect for petaluma tomorrow. the agenda is very clear here, the notes are so skewed, so biased it is pathetic. i consider myself very middle of the road on development.....it is obvious that petaluma tomorrow is NOT middle of the road, not looking for solutions, not looking to be proactive, only looking to obstruct, it is an extreme group. try to speak and be reasonable, try to be transparent, try to be open...push for open government and they call label you as in a developers pocket. they do more back-door dealings than anyone. they claim they are all about open government, all about transparency and for the people but it is all a farse. open/transparent government....reality is that these are things that petaluma tomorrow is totally AGAINST! only open when it suites them but most of their dealings and actions come from back door meetings. petaluma tomorrow and/or the person(s) responsible for these post should be ashamed of themselves. all petaluma residents should look on how we all can come together and work towards developing better projects, be proactive and work as a team. instead, all petaluma tomorrow does is bash council members and look for ways to stop any type of development, responsible or not. so sad, so disappointing.

They Bash certain Council members. They are perfect "FAR" Left-propagandists. They are the Attack Dogs. They protect the Socialistic members of the Council and character assassinate the moderate or consevative ones for simply having a different opinion. They are not "Petaluma for Tomorrow"...them using our towns name is an insult. They are "Marxists for Tomorrow"..and they can go to hell!

You are spot on, PitBull.

"Petaluma for Tomorrow" has used it's leftist bully pulpit,in the same manner that similar groups in other cities have. Those cities have been ruined. Take a look at Berkeley and San Francisco. Let's put them in check now, before they turn Petaluma into another hot bed for radical leftists.

The silent majority needs to start talking back. The left has been conducting their one way conversation for far too long.

PT has always showed their cards very clearly. No big surprises accept your entertaining reactions. The AC and PD always espouse to the most bizarre uncompromising position on EVERY political issue. IT's so frustrating that my local paper is so biased. I REALLY am middle of the road in my politics and am totally offended by the AC editorials and their lack of unnderstanding of key issues. There never is compromise and there ALWAYS is a clear political agenda in the way they choose to report. I don't get why you are so upset about PT being who they are and propose themselves to be???

I have subscribed to the Argus Courier since the 1960's. I find the editorial page amusing. Reviewing last night’s council meeting I was saddened with former mayor and current city council member David Glass by his monolog chastising our local newspaper. His diatribe lasted 12 minutes propounding the paper was only good for fish wrap, while reading word for word from another byline. Emitting all that hot air, did he know it was a "Spare the air day"? Perhaps he should consider putting the fish wrap in his mouth.

It's not just the editorial staff of the Argus he has set his sights on. He attacks anyone who doesn't agree with his opinion. Has anyone else noticed how discourteous David Glass is to his fellow council members when they don't agree with his position? He needs to remember he can disagree without being disagreeable. I've seen our mayor be discourteous on more than one occasion as well but she isn't as consistently rude as Glass is.

"They are not "Petaluma for Tomorrow"...them using our towns name is an insult. They are "Marxists for Tomorrow"..and they can go to hell! God and Country.... "

Y'all sound like a bunch a scared old ladies having a tea party gossipin bout Communists takin over the PTA. Actually, you are dinosaurs whose time has passed and you are still reeling that Obama won and that the entire country is moving forward and leaving you behind. I guess this is all you have left after the past eight years...complaining like a couple a geezers on a park bench.

"former mayor and current city council member David Glass by his monolog chastising our local newspaper. His diatribe lasted 12 minutes propounding the paper was only good for fish wrap"

He did?!?!? Good for him! I knew there was a reason I liked that guy! I just got my AC renewal slip in the mail. I'm gonna send it in with a nice note as to why I'm letting my subscription lapse. AC editor John Burns' editorial slant and developer-friendly bias does not represent the community or his readership. There's an old guard paper that needs to get with the times, otherwise they really will go under. I encourage everyone who agrees to cancel their own subscription in order to send a strong message.

quote:

Originally posted by Boopitydoobiedo:
"They are not "Petaluma for Tomorrow"...them using our towns name is an insult. They are "Marxists for Tomorrow"..and they can go to hell! God and Country.... "

Y'all sound like a bunch a scared old ladies having a tea party gossipin bout Communists takin over the PTA. Actually, you are dinosaurs whose time has passed and you are still reeling that Obama won and that the entire country is moving forward and leaving you behind. I guess this is all you have left after the past eight years...complaining like a couple a geezers on a park bench.

PoopyDippyDope....De Dope,
Go pop some Cat meds you wacko De-Gressive. Go drink some Tea from a "Bag", it sounds like you're having withdrawls... Have a Day....