Fiscal & neighborhood leader finds a lot wrong with SJ City's Intergovernmental Relations priority-setting process
Image by Wikimedia Commons
Like no citizen input. Hardly any council review. And a shady approval process. Tobin Gilman, retired tech executive, local historian, and community leader chimes in.
The Silicon Valley Business Association letter critiquing the IGR report is spot on. I would add two points:
1. Despite CM's Batra and Doan imploring their council colleagues to bring transparency to the IGR process last year, the mayor and council continue to refuse holding study sessions on IGR legislative priorities, positions and recommendations. The IGR report Council will vote to approve on 1/14 is 245 pages. It contains numerous bills that are complex and highly consequential.
The mayor and council also continue to refuse conducting meaningful public outreach before taking formal positions and approving lobbying activities on controversial pieces of state and federal legislation.
2. The 2025 IGR Priorities is one of the most significant items the council will decide upon this year. Placing it on the agenda for the first meeting after the holidays with no advance public announcement was a terrible oversight. Residents deserve better.
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