At least seven meetings to be held at City Hall
Morgan Hill – A preliminary schedule of community conversations to be hosted by the city was released this week.
The meetings, seven of what city leaders hope will be at least 50 discussions with various civic and business groups and community members about Morgan Hill’s financial health, will be held in city council chambers and be open to all members of the public.
“I think the community conversations are going to be very powerful,” said Melissa Dile, assistant to the city manager. “I hope we get a lot of different folks to come out who don’t normally come [to city council meetings].”
The community conversation process is an attempt to gauge support in the community for new taxes to support city services.
A majority of the meetings will be hosted in private clubs and organizations or held in the home of residents and may not be open to the public. City Manager Ed Tewes has said the city can’t guarantee open access because many meetings will not be held in public spaces.
At the meetings, residents will be given descriptions of three possible ways to erase the city’s $1.3 million budget deficit.
One would raise city taxes by $325 to $425 a family to pay for increased city services such as police and parks; a second raises taxes about $125 a family to maintain current services; a third would not raise taxes but cut services.
Those who agree that new taxes are necessary will be asked whether they prefer a new sales tax, a parcel tax or increased development impact fees.
The meetings will be conducted as roundtable discussions among small groups of attendees. Dile said that the city wants the meetings to be run by community members so there will be no chance of city staffers influencing the results.
“This is not about staff as experts,” she said. “It’s about where is there common ground on the future of Morgan Hill. The whole purpose of the community conversation is for community members to find common ground.”
Meetings will be held from January through March. Depending on their results, a tax measure could appear on the November 2006 ballot.
For more information about the community conversations, or to learn how to host a meeting, visit the city’s Web site at http://www.morgan-hill.ca.gov/, or call 779-7271.
Community Meetings
The city will host seven community conversation meetings. All meetings will be held in council chambers at city hall, 17555 Peak Avenue.
– Jan. 31 6:30 to 9pm
– Feb. 7 6:30 to 9pm
– Feb. 9 6:30 to 9pm
– Feb. 11 9 to 11:30am
– March 7 6:30 to 9pm
– March 11 9 to 11:30am
– March 20 6:30 to 9pm
