Good evening commissioners. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to provide testimony to advise the next phase of charter review and revision. My name is Maulin Mehta, and I am a Senior Associate with the Regional Plan Association. RPA is an urban planning research and advocacy organization working to improve the New York metropolitan region’s prosperity, sustainability and quality of life.

This fall, New Yorkers will be able to vote on a series of charter revision proposals for restructuring NYC government. In our Fourth Regional Plan, we discussed the importance for inclusivity in the planning and development processes that govern our City. We applaud the Mayor’s commission for promoting the ideas of more robust civic engagement and solutions to diversify community boards and drive community planning. The Council’s commission has an opportunity to build off these efforts to provide

Community Board Reform

Imposing term limits on community board members, standardizing the appointment process, and using annual reporting to ensure boards represent their districts, as proposed by the Mayor’s commission, will expand opportunities for civic engagement and help create a more representative body of local stewards. To reduce the knowledge gap and promote robust participation in meetings and decision-making, community board reforms should include specific tools and practices such as:

• Expanded budgets for community boards to improve capacity and accessibility. Funding should be used to hire technical experts, such as a full-time urban planner, that can improve board capacity and prepare them to develop community plans. Childcare and translation services for public events should also be fully funded to improve community turnout and participation at events.
• Standardizing and requiring digital tools for engagement. Existing software could be implemented city-wide to enable community members to participate in community board discussions and decisions without physically being at the meeting. Additionally, each community board should have a predictable online presence with clarity and publicity for events and agendas, historical records, communications, and other documentation.
• Standardize training for board members so that they better understand basic planning concepts and the ULURP process. This can help community boards better define their role in the development process and what community outcomes should be prioritized. Community boards should also be required to produce official community plans and updates on a rolling basis.

Community Engagement

If a Civic Engagement Commission is established, the City will have taken an important step in solidifying the value and necessity for broader community participation in decision making. As currently proposed, the commission would focus on participatory budgeting, language interpretation at poll sites, raising awareness of City services, and supporting other civic engagement initiatives city-wide.

This entity should be given the resources necessary to take on more responsibility and reach. The commission can work with community groups and community boards to strategize local planning activities, take lead on pre-ULURP action around the city to involve the public before and during formal processes, develop a city-wide planning framework source.

Effort should also be made to improve transparency and reduce the burden on City government, by establishing process, rules, and guidance to enable community-based decision making. In addition to building awareness and consensus on projects, the City should adopt tools and systems that encourage community stewardship over neighborhood assets, and provide a platform to push new ideas. I’ll briefly touch on two examples:

• Madrid adopted a free civic engagement platform, Consul, and has successfully used this technology to get broader community engagement during the participatory budgeting process. The technology also enables any resident to pitch and promote ideas for new projects. If an idea receives a certain number of votes, the City Council is required to evaluate the idea and consider it for adoption. NYC has already adopted a similar approach with participatory budgeting, and we encourage the exploration of applying this technology in a way that promotes sustained, long-term civic engagement.
• San Francisco has implemented Groundplay, which is a multi-agency program that enables residents to learn about different right-of-way intervention types in a central place. The central website provides project examples, toolkits and guidance to help residents develop and implement their ideas. This program helps foster grassroots stewardship and reduces costs normally associated with formal top-down planning projects.

These examples show that with the right tools and knowledge, residents can engage in civic life more fully and be more integral to the decision making process.

Land-Use and Comprehensive Planning

The land-use review process needs to be reformed to be more accessible, actionable, and transparent. The City also needs to implement holistic and inclusive comprehensive planning. There a number of goals that the City should aim for including:

• Adopting official plans for each community board that include targets to increase the supply of affordable housing and identify infrastructure needs.
• Creating clear and comprehensive ​“fair share” requirements and guida
• Increasing transparency and accountability in the land-use review process so that the public can weigh in on proposals before an EAS is submitted.\
• Tracking mitigation measures for all EIS’ prepared, including public and private land-use applications.
• Requiring a community needs assessment before the disposition of public sites.

A revised charter should pave the way for a community-driven approach to comprehensive planning in the City, empower communities to be more informed and active in making land-use decisions, and ensure that resources and tools expand access and understanding for all New Yorkers. RPA looks forward to working with our partners and the commission over the coming months to make sure charter reform is successful in achieving these important goals.