Thursday, April 28, 2011

Gowanus Canal CAG Charter Ratified!

HELLO FROM CORD!

Last night's general meeting of the Gowanus Community Advisory Group was held at National Grid's offices on Jay Street. The meeting focused on the presentation of the CAG charter that the Operating Procedures Committee has been working on for the last several months. As part of that process, the committee sent out via email to all CAG members and interested members of the public, a charter for their review and a request for comments. In addition, an open house meeting was held by the Operating Procedures Committee on Thurs, April 21st at CB6 where the committee entertained questions and comments from both CAG members and the public alike.
The committee then compiled all of the input from the first emailings and the open house, made some adjustments based on that very valuable input, redistributed the revised charter to all of the CAG members, via email prior to last night's meeting. Three of the four members of the Operating Procedures Committee* were even on hand an hour before the official meeting starting time of 6:30, for any and all CAG members who wished to discuss the charter right up to the beginning of the meeting.
After a presentation by the committee with committee member, Craig Hammerman as spokesman, a Q&A session began. At the end of that session, the attendees were asked if they were willing and prepared to take a vote to ratify the charter. The answer was yes. The vote was taken and the charter approved by a majority of greater than 4/5 of the present members.
What does this mean? Well, up until last night, the CAG was operating without any real guidelines in place. Although committee meetings have been held, they have not been able to really move forward because there was no agreed upon system in place that could determine how proposals would be made, and what level of approval would be needed to make decisions regarding those proposals. Now, with that system in place, the committees and the CAG as whole can confidently move forward.
CORD has provided both versions (the first draft charter and the revised one) to you. At last night's meeting, the fact that there were still a couple of typographical errors which needed to be corrected were openly presented and discussed, and as soon as the final version is ready, we will be posting that for all of you as well.
*Note-Operating Procedures Committee Members--Craig Hammerman, Steven Miller, Maria Pagano (absent last night), and CORD CAG representative, Rita Miller
(See our cgcord.blogspot.com for Charter in full)

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

NEWLY REVISED VERSION OF THE CAG CHARTER

Hello from CORD! We have placed the newly revised version of the CAG Charter at our link below:


We hope that you will all take a moment to read this document and to reflect upon it. At tonight's CAG meeting (see below) more questions about this charter will be answered. If you would like to participate in the on-going, public dialogue regarding this charter, and many other pressing issues regarding the GOWANUS CANAL CLEAN-UP, we urge you to write to us at cord@gmail.com with your questions and comments. Or, you might want to attend the public, CGA meeting tonight! (See below for details and info on how to RSVP. Thank you for your continued civic engagement! Together we can all build a better and healthier tomorrow! "Green" and "sustainable" mean: public action and civic engagement!




rom: Jeff Edelstein [mailto:jledelstein@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, April 22, 2011 5:59 PM
To: 'edelstein@psouth.net'
Subject: Revised CAG charter & 4/26 RSVPs still needed!

Dear CAG members,

Please see the attached newly revised version of the draft CAG charter. Based on comments received, the Operating Procedures Committee has sharpened the focus on how the CAG will function, and has clarified certain sections that may have been unclear. They will answer any questions about the changes at next Tuesday’s CAG meeting.

If you have not yet RSVP’d to me about your attendance at next Tuesday’s CAG meeting (6:30 at Metrotech), please do so ASAP.

NOTE: You are welcome to arrive on 4/26 any time after 5:30 pm for informal discussion with members of the Operating Procedures Committee about the charter. There will be light snacks and beverages.

It is my hope that we can have a good discussion about the charter for the first hour (6:30 – 7:30), resulting in a clear decision about moving forward, and be able to spend the second hour of the meeting discussing the important work that is happening in the various committees.

Please also mark your calendars for the May CAG meeting – Tuesday, May 31, 6:30 p.m. Topic: Christos Tsiamis will discuss the Feasibility Study getting underway.

--Jeff


Saturday, April 16, 2011

CAG Drafts Charter on behalf of the Operating Procedures Committee

Hello from CORD!



Please see the message below and the blog link concerning the proposed Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group Charter. Members of the public are welcome to comment on the draft charter and/or to attend the April 21* meeting to discuss the charter (see details* below) and the general CAG meeting on April 26 at 6:30 pm at Metrotech Center in downtown Brooklyn.

RSVPs to edelstein@psouth.net are requested as space may be limited.


As always, we welcome all of our readers' questions and comments. Be assured that your comments will be brought to the meetings.

Email comments to: cgcord@gmail.com





FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION....
and A SPECIAL MEETING INVITATION to tell us what you think …...

The Operating Procedures Committee of the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group (CAG) respectfully submits the attached CAG Charter draft for your approval

(Please see the draft in full at the CORD blog set up for longer documetns at http://www.cgcord.blogspot.com/)

We have crafted this charter with care and diligence. We hope you will recognize the strength of the basic structure, the thoughtful design of the overall framework and the breadth of our consideration.

The next step is yours. It is our hope that you can review our work and be ready to ratify it by the full CAG meeting on April 26. Yes, we know it is close, but please consider that while we have been working, the CAG committees have been hobbled by the absence of this charter. We are hoping that you will be ready and willing to consider its adoption at the coming meeting.

We are asking you to:


-- Scrutinize this document.
-- Present this to your assorted Memberships and/or Boards for their consideration, if necessary
-- If board/membership approval is a requirement of your organization, please advise us if anything about the timing suggested here would make it impossible to attempt a vote on April 26th.

While reviewing keep in mind:


-- The CAG is an advisory body only, a group that has no real authority. Therefore our greatest strengths will lie in our commitment to adhering to the principles we set for ourselves as a group and our ability to publicly express our wishes from a stance of great solidarity.


-- We opted for an' inclusive of all' policy with a variety of decision making tools including consensus based decisions to demonstrate that solidarity.

-- We opted for structure that put the emphasis on the CAG as a whole instead of a hierarchy.

-- and most importantly, we took great pains to produce a living document capable, willing and expectant of change -- complete with a mechanism built into it with that specific purpose in mind.

-- We had the good fortune and ability to obtain guidance and direction from our Facilitator's wealth of experience.

-- At the end of the day, this committee has built this charter based on the shared values of community, transparency, commitment and honesty; we hope you agree.


Respectfully yours, from the Operating Procedures Committee Members:

Craig Hammerman (Community Board 6)

Rita Miller (Carroll Gardens Coalition for Respectful Development)

Steven Miller (At-Large)

Maria Pagano (Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association)


*Join us at a Special Operating Procedures Committee Meeting especially for all of you. As noted above,

RSVPs to edelstein@psouth.net are requested as space may be limited.


When: Thursday, April 21st
Where: CB6 Conference Room
250 Baltic Street
Time: 6:15 PM

We will be there to discuss the charter, provide answers to your questions and listen to your input. We are striving mightily to have an approval ready Charter for you on April 26th.

Remember your questions sent to CORD at cgcord@gmail.com will be brought to the meetings!

Friday, April 15, 2011

UPCOMING CAG MEETINGS

April 21: CAG charter “open house,” 6 pm at CB6 Community Room, 250 Baltic Street. Members of the Operating Procedures Committee will be available to hear comments and answer questions about the draft CAG Charter that they have developed (draft will be distributed shortly).

April 26: CAG general meeting. 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm at Metrotech Center. Agenda: 1) Draft CAG Charter; 2) Proposed resolution from Water Quality Committee: The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group supports the use of NYC DEP grant funds for green infrastructure improvements within the community of the Gowanus watershed. 3) Committee updates: water quality, real estate, archeology.


AS WE HAVE SAID IN THE PAST:

PLEASE CONTINUE TO WRITE TO US WITH YOUR QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, COMMENTS RE: THE CAG/THE GOWNUS CANAL CLEAN-UP AT: cgcord@gmail.com


We will do our very best to answer, or to get some answers, for you. Thank you.


CORD

CORD HISTORY:

With the "Protect Our Homes" petition, CORD was formed in May, 2007. This petition arose as an overwhelmingly negative response to the coming of the over-sized 360 Smith Street Development at the corner of Smith Street and Second Place (Aka Oliver House; aka 131 Second Place). This petition, which had well over three thousand signatures, led to a new zoning text amendment in summer of 2008.

To: Our Elected Officials, Community Leaders, The MTA:
(MAY, 2007)

We the undersigned Carroll Gardens homeowners and residents, are appalled by the "as of right" ruling which allows owners and developers to erect buildings in our neighborhood with no regard to the impact they will present to our quality of life and the value of our homes........

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?crlgrdns