Why Does No One Attend Planning Commission Meetings?

Dear Editor,

Thank you for your articles on all the projects that are coming our way.

I’m in construction and I go to council and planning commission meetings all over the County and I try to encourage others to attend as well.

In addition to keeping pressure on the developers regarding affordable housing I believe we need to keep the pressure on them in regards to all local standards.  The workers building these projects should be able to afford to live in the area. Undercutting us to make a profit happens way too often.  I was there to see if they intended to uphold area wages and standards that local construction workers have established over many generations.

Tuesday night at the Redwood City Planning Commission I witnessed something odd.  Nobody was there. 

The Commission passed the first project to be approved in the new “” and there were only three audience members, me and my two friends.

The packed the room and next week the is sure to draw crowds but this one didn’t? Considering the effort that has been put into the “Plan” I would have expected this to be a big deal and yet it seems to have quietly slipped into the schedule after being on the back burner for some time. It started out as a condo project and has reinvented itself recently as apartments.

Really odd.  Not a single affordable housing advocate was there?  No one had questions about increased traffic?  No transit proponents came to praise the project and nobody wanted to ask about the potential conversion to condos in the future?  Really, not one opponent or supporter? 

Thankfully the Commissioners asked questions. More than one of them made comments about the lack of public in the room, and one actually asked staff if proper notice had been given. 

This is only the first of many projects that we will be seeing in the area and I hope we see more participation. Our question regarding fair wages for construction has yet to be answered so you can count on seeing me at the City Council meeting for the final vote.

Sincerely,

Mark Leach

Redwood City resident