Center for Open Government: West end partnership starts off on right foot with transparency
The West End Opportunity Partnership (westendpartners.org) got off on the right foot yesterday with their first public meeting.
A meeting notice was sent on Sunday with the meeting time and location. A bullet point agenda was included within the notice. A Zoom link was provided.
There were minor technical difficulties with the audio but it was clear the meeting administrators made a concerted effort to ensure that the people who dialed-in remotely were able to listen and participate.*
Regarding the business of meeting:
Louisville Metro Council President David James was initially put forth to serve as an interim Chair for the board. Jeana Dunlap, representing the Louisville NAACP, was nominated to co-chair the board with James. Both emphasized their “interim” designation due to the fact that the west end neighborhood representatives have yet to be appointed to the board.
The draft bylaws were discussed but not adopted. There were several possible revisions discussed. The board members felt it was better to hash out any potential changes and bring a revised version of the bylaws to the next meeting.
It wasn’t clear if a date was set for the next meeting, let alone a regular schedule of meetings. We’ve emailed the WEOP administrators to get details on this. (Update: Board members are being surveyed for their best availability for the next meeting. We will be notified when the meeting is scheduled).
All in all, it was an encouraging start. The WEOP appeared to be taking their transparency and process responsibilities seriously. It’s unfortunate that the leaders of the General Assembly didn’t do the same and put this board behind the eight ball out of the gate.
There’s a lot of legitimate skepticism surrounding the WEOP. Operating out in the open is the best strategy to bring along the critics of this effort.
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*Several board members participated in the meeting via Zoom.
NOTE: In the email response to our questions, it was pointed out that the newly formed organization prefers to be referred to as “‘The Partnership’ rather than WEOP” saying it “exudes a more positive message.” We’ll do our best to honor that preference in the future.