{"id":2424,"date":"2007-10-24T15:09:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-24T21:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/10\/county-leads-way-on-increasing-public-involvement\/"},"modified":"2007-10-24T15:09:00","modified_gmt":"2007-10-24T21:09:00","slug":"county-leads-way-on-increasing-public-involvement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/10\/county-leads-way-on-increasing-public-involvement\/","title":{"rendered":"County leads way on increasing public involvement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It was the Las Cruces City Council<\/a> that found itself embroiled in controversy earlier this year over whether to approve a 6,000-acre development on Las Cruces<\/st1:city>\u2019 East Mesa<\/st1:place> despite some residents\u2019 cries that there wasn\u2019t enough public input in the process. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s the Do\u00f1a Ana County Board of Commissioners<\/a> that is taking the lead on ensuring public involvement in future development.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The commission, on a vote of 5-0, approved an ordinance change on Tuesday that requires developers asking for subdivision approval or zoning changes involving 100 acres or 100 lots or more to first hold a town-hall meeting with area residents. Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley<\/a>, who proposed the change, said it stemmed from the controversy over Philip Philippou\u2019s East Mesa<\/st1:place> project, The Vistas at Presidio<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought the people who were calling for more public input had a point,\u201d he said at Tuesday\u2019s commission meeting, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

They did have a point. Kudos to McCamley for responding with a proposal that helps address the situation and to the other members of the commission for approving it. In doing so, they\u2019ve proven that they understand the need for public involvement, not just token participation, and that they haven\u2019t lost touch with the constituents who elected them.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

You see, there\u2019s a big difference between public input and public involvement. The city council \u2013 and most local governments \u2013 allow input at their meetings. That means people get a quick chance to speak before the governing body that makes decisions. The opportunity usually comes just before members vote on the item in question, when most have already made up their minds.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not uncommon for some elected officials to get on their computers or visit the restroom during public input.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

True public involvement, on the other hand, is when people get a chance to not only learn about a proposal but have an opportunity to provide feedback at an early stage, when it can make a difference. The county\u2019s new rule requires developers to tell members of the public about their projects before they stand for approval in front of the county\u2019s Planning and Zoning Commission or the Board of Commissioners. And they have to do it in the area where the development would be built, rather than at the commission chambers in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, easing access to the information.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an excellent step toward participatory government.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s unfortunate that the county\u2019s requirement only applies in unincorporated areas of the county that also fall outside the Extraterritorial Zone, the five-mile area around the Las Cruces<\/st1:placename> City<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> limits governed by a joint city-county board.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Commissioners should be commended for seeing another government\u2019s mistake and learning from it. City councilors, and the members of both boards who sit on the ETZ Authority, should place similar requirements on developments in the areas they govern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was the Las Cruces City Council that found itself embroiled in controversy earlier this year over whether to approve a 6,000-acre development on Las Cruces\u2019 East Mesa despite some residents\u2019 cries that there wasn\u2019t enough public input in the process. But it\u2019s the Do\u00f1a Ana County Board of Commissioners that is taking the lead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2424\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}