Mayor de Blasio’s Charter Reform Commission has released its Preliminary Staff Report, providing an opportunity for the public to gain a better understanding of both the Commission’s scope and slant on issues. The report includes several elements that follow from the process that RPA and our partners, including several elected officials, undertook last year that culminated in the recommendations in the Inclusive City report.

The Inclusive City working group called for reforming community boards to ensure they are representative of the communities they serve, standardizing the application and appointment process and providing more resources to help professionalize community boards, increasing their capacity, especially around land use and planning. Commission staff write that these themes have been central to the testimony they have received so far as well.

Inclusive City also called for the City to reinstate the office of community planning. The Mayor’s Charter Reform Commission is exploring a similar idea, an office of civic engagement. And still to come are the first meetings of the City Council’s charter revision commission, which can also take a deeper look into our land use process and propose possible changes.

Tomorrow, July 31st, is the final opportunity for you to give feedback to the Mayor’s Charter Reform Commission. Find a meeting near you.