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Below is my unpublished (to date) letter to the editor. I submitted this last week via the News & Observer online submission form and have been looking online for it everyday. So just in case they don’t publish it, the power of having my own blog allows me to post it now!
During the January 22 Raleigh City Council meeting, I formally requested a 30-day extension for public comments on the 2030 Draft Comprehensive Plan. It was denied by a 4-4 vote, with Mayor Meeker and three other councilors refusing to recognize the importance of citizen involvement. The N&O failed to cover this matter and instead elected to write about dog tethering.
In Southwest Raleigh, neighborhood leaders and I are heading-up citizen focus groups who are analyzing the proposed plan and submitting feedback to planning staff. While digesting the plan’s 380-plus pages, we and other citizens realized much more time is needed to fully comprehend its content and collaborate on how we can make this plan the best it could be for Raleigh’s future. More citizens are just realizing the implications of the proposed plan and how their neighborhoods, future transportation systems and other elements like urban form, environment, arts & culture, parks, and historic preservation, will be affected.
A public forum and panel discussion has been scheduled for 6:30 PM on February 11, 2009 in City Hall Council Chambers in order to facilitate additional dialog and input. I hope you’re present to listen and participate.
After all, this is Our Plan…Our City…Our future!
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About: Jason: I'm a neighborhood advocate. I started off by getting involved in the Pleasant Ridge & Ramsgate Community Watch program and helped grow that organization. I saw an opportunity to unite other neighborhoods in our area with the Lineberry Alliance. I became chair of Raleigh's South West Citizen Advisory Council (SWCAC) in April 2010 along with vice chair Anthony McLeod and second vice chair Mary Belle Pate. I work with other neighborhood leaders in District D alongside City Councilor Thomas Crowder, on the District D Neighborhood Alliance (DDNA). I've completed Raleigh Neighborhood College (Spring 2005) and Leadership North Carolina (May 2007). In 2009, I lead a group of neighborhood volunteers to review Raleigh's 2030 Comprehensive Plan. I have a genuine interest in strong communities, fostering diversity, understanding the issues, and being transparent in my work. You can follow me on Twitter: @jhibbets |