The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

City seeks community input on redevelopment

By Justin Berton

The Sunnyvale City Council last week hired a consultant to find out how residents would like their downtown redeveloped.

At the April 21 meeting, the council voted 6-1 to pay the San Francisco- based Community Focus $60,000 over one year to facilitate community forums and create a citizen "resource team" consisting of a cross-section of Sunnyvale residents.

The first of several planned meetings is tentatively scheduled for May 6 at the Del Monte Building but is open only to businesses and land owners in the downtown area who will be affected by parking issues, director of community development David Boesch said.

Councilmember Stan Kawczynski voted against the contract, claiming the consultant group was merely a public relations arm of the city that would leave little decision-making responsibilities with citizens.

"This is just a sales job we'll be putting on the public," Kawczynski said of the community forums.

City manager Robert LaSala assured Kawczynski the consultant was committed to serving as a neutral third party.

"If we were looking just to sell, promote or test the market, then we would simply hire an advertising firm or a public relations campaign," LaSala said.

The first forum open to all members of the public is tentatively set for May 28.

Malka Kopell, executive director of Community Focus, said the group will remain neutral by staying dedicated to its mission statement to bring community members and government together to solve problems.

"The more people who participate, the better," she said. "We want to give everybody a chance to participate."

Kopell said specific plans have not been set for how the Sunnyvale forums will be run.

"Every community is different. We don't have a cookie-cutter approach to cities," she said.

The resource team will include business representatives, members of nonprofits, public officials and other interested individuals, Kopell said.

Boesch told councilmembers that the public will be apprised of its role in the process "so that people's expectations aren't overinflated or unrealistic."

Councilmember Julia Miller questioned why a Sunnyvale-based firm wasn't hired to facilitate the community forums.

LaSala said he was unaware that any existed, and the city interviewed six different applicants before recommending Community Focus.

Mayor Jim Roberts said the facilitator was necessary to gauge the public's acceptance of the proposals for the new downtown.

"This will keep us from making a huge mistake," he said. "The public will tell us very quickly if we do."

Boesch said the city would advertise with mailers, posters and phone calls to notify the public when and where the forums will take place.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, April 29, 1998.
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