CITY WEBSITE—candle safety and clown pictures
The city website (www.greenvillenc.gov) is an increasingly valuable tool.  You can:
--learn about and book the Fire Department’s Educational Clown Team
--access facts about candle fires and safety
--find out if historic preservation makes economic sense
--get tips on being a “green” Christmas gift wrapper
--obtain police data for specific time periods and specific city subdivisions
--find out how to do a “Ride-Along” with a police officer
--get a free fire prevention evaluation of your home
--fill out a “Talent Bank” form in order to be considered for membership on one of our city’s many important boards and commissions

3 WAYS TO SEE A COUNCIL MEETING— 2 easy, 1 harder
An Easy Way:
--Go to www.greenvillenc.gov
--On the home page is a section titled “Useful City Links.”  Under that, click on “Streaming Meeting Videos.”
--On the right you’ll see a list of the meeting dates; just click on “video” for the date you want to see.
--The agenda will appear and you can click on the agenda item in which you have interest.  So, you do not have to sit through the whole meeting to see Council action on your item of interest.
--Videos for all meetings, beginning with September 2006, are available on this website.

Another Easy Way:
--Following a Council meeting, go to www.greenvillenc.gov
--On the left side of the page, click on “Greenville’s Government TV”
--Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “Programming Guide”
--Click on “Schedule”
--Here you can click on any date and see the programming schedule for that day.  Council meetings are replayed several times on the days following a meeting.
--Once you have identified when the Council meeting is going to be replayed, you can watch or tape it on the Government Access Channel 9.

A Harder Way:
--Of course, all citizens are welcome to visit the Council Chambers, on the third floor of City Hall located at 200 West Fifth St., for our regular monthly meetings. 

CITIZEN CONFUSION
Builders, specialty lawyers, city planners, and other professionals work with the city’s Horizons Comprehensive Plan and rezonings every day.  They understand the process very well.  However, most citizens find themselves needing to address a rezoning issue rarely, maybe only once in their life.  When they do, the process can be quite confusing as they confront a maze of complicated rezoning categories and procedures.  I intend to do what I can to make this process understandable for citizens so you can EFFECTIVELY and EFFICIENTLY participate in the smart growth of your city.

REZONING IN GENERAL—“a quick lesson”
The Horizons Comprehensive Plan is a document that guides the growth of this city in a smart way.  By smart growth, I mean growth that grows the city and expands our tax base, but does it in a way that provides for open spaces, sane traffic patterns, long-term value, livability, sustainability, and neighborhood protection.  We want to endow new neighborhoods with long-term value that prevents out-migration and decline.  When requests for rezoning (or changes to the Horizons Plan) are made by developers, it is the job of city staff to analyze those requests and determine if they are compatible with the Horizons Plan.  It can be useful for citizens to view developer rezoning requests in three categories.

1—IN COMPLIANCE.  Staff determines that the request is “in compliance” with the Horizons Plan and recommends that it be approved.  This means that the requested zoning is either specifically recommended in the Horizons Plan (or an addendum to the Plan) or is predominantly or completely surrounded by the same or compatible and desirable zoning and it promotes the desired urban form.  In most of these cases, the rezoning will allow development which is desirable and in the public interest.  This is usually smart growth, the kind of growth we want for our city.

2—NOT IN COMPLIANCE.  Staff determines that the request is “not in compliance” with the Horizons Plan and recommends that it be denied.  This means that the requested zoning is specifically noncompliant with the Horizons Plan objectives and/or is of a scale, dimension, configuration, or location that is not objectively in keeping with the Plan intent and does not promote or preserve the desired urban form.  In most of these cases, the rezoning will allow development which is undesirable for this location and not in the public interest.  There are sometimes reasons to change the Horizons Plan or approve some request that is not in compliance, but these cases should be rare and based on very sound reasons. 

3—IN GENERAL COMPLIANCE.  Staff determines that the request is “in general compliance” with the Horizons Plan and no recommendation is made.  These requests are in a grey area.  Staff is not recommending approval of the requested zoning; however, staff does not have any specific objection to the requested zoning.  Whether this request is approved or not depends on the details of the request, how it might impact the city, and citizens objections that might arise.

HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR OPINION ABOUT A REZONING REQUEST
In my opinion, citizens and neighborhood associations should look closely at requests in categories 2 and 3 above.  All rezoning requests go before the city’s Planning and Zoning (P & Z) Commission which then makes a recommendation to the City Council.  City Council makes the final decision.  EXPRESSIONS OF PUBLIC CONCERN ABOUT REZONING REQUESTS MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!  If a request comes before City Council and there are no objections from citizens, then there is a good chance it will pass.

Theoretically, there are several ways to find out about and express your concern about a particular rezoning request.

 1—Ideally, your neighborhood has an association and, if so, then you work through your association which can give the strength of numbers to your concerns.  Having our neighborhoods organized is a separate issue that we need to work on throughout the city.

 2—You can contact the city’s Planning Department for information and guidance on any rezoning.  The Planning Department’s number is 252 329 4507.

 3—When hired, the city’s neighborhood liaison may be available to assist citizens navigate the rezoning process.  Call 329 CITY (2489) and ask for the neighborhood liaison staff member.

 4--You can go to the city website (www.greenvillenc.gov) and check out for yourself the agendas of the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council.  Regarding City Council, for example, you can see exactly what I see when I sit on Council to make these decisions.  Should you want to, here is the way to do that:

On the city page (www.greenvillenc.gov), under “Useful City Links” click on “City Council Meetings and Agenda.”  Here you can click on 2008 agendas, scroll down and click on the meeting you wish to view.  When you, for example, click on “January 10, 2008,” then the agenda for that meeting will appear.  From here you can easily click on the left side on the agenda item you wish to view. 

Once you determine that you have a concern about a request, then it is crucial to show up at the public hearing when that request is being heard and express your concern.

CONSTITUENT COMMUNICATION (CC) EMAILS

My Constituent Communication (CC) email newsletter is sent very occasionally to anyone who has expressed interest in Greenville city government or my service on Council.  The city maintains an excellent and informative website (www.greenvillenc.gov), where City Council meeting videos, government services updates, city cable channel programming, and other information can be readily accessed.  As a useful adjunct to the city website, the CC mailing will provide my commentary on issues facing our city.  I intend for it to be useful, without overwhelming anyone’s mailbox.  If you know someone who would like to receive these occasional mailings, send their email address to me (mercerc99@yahoo.com).  If you are just joining this CC list and would like to see the last couple of mailings, just let me know.  This CC list is separate from another list that I used in my campaign and now use for political mailings.