Dear Neighbors,

First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to express your concerns regarding the facilitated meeting on December 11.  Your concerns were taken very seriously and considered in depth by many people in the City including the Director of Planning, Council Services, Office of Neighborhood Coordination, and myself (the Alternative Dispute Resolution Office).  I apologize if you receive multiple copies of this correspondence; however, we wanted to ensure that everyone receives this information.

Based upon your concerns, the efforts of the facilitators, and these discussions the following occurred:

Will the meeting occur?

The meeting will occur on December 11, 2008 from 6-8 PM

The location of the meeting:

Facilitators Diane Grover and Kathleen Oweegon contacted over 20 facilities to find a location that would hold the number of neighbors that were expected to attend the meeting.  It was known that Alamosa Community Center was not an ideal location; however, it was the only venue at the time that was available to hold over 100 people.  We did not want anyone to be excluded and Alamosa was saved while the facilitators worked to find an alternate location.

Diane and Kathleen were able to reserve an alternative facility with the help of suggestions by neighbors.  As a result the facilitators work and the suggestion of a neighbor. The meeting will be held at:

                                    Hope Christian School

                                    8005 Louisiana NE Albuquerque NM 87109

                                    1 block South of Paseo on Louisiana

                          The first right off of Louisiana from Paseo is Palomas or Las Palomas.  The Building is on the right side and the meeting is located in the cafeteria.  There will be a basketball game to the left of the building.  Currently there will be just lunch tables set up for seating.

The Facilitator:

Kathleen Oweegon felt that although she tried to alleviate the concerns about her being biased, that the concerns persisted.  Therefore, Kathleen determined that the bias concerns would negatively impact the meeting and affect its productivity.  On Friday, December 5, Kathleen resigned as the lead facilitator.

Philip Crump will be taking the lead at the meeting on December 11.

Meeting Design:

Given the concern over the open space meeting design, the meeting design has changed. 

• The purpose of the meeting is to elicit responses, positive and negative, in a systematic fashion for the EPC deliberations.  No decision is made at the meeting.
• A traditional facilitated meeting format will be done
  • A presentation from the applicant
  • Followed by questions and concerns by the neighbors
  • City Personnel will be present to answer any City related questions
• Neighbor comments will be limited to 2 minutes to allow an opportunity for everyone to be heard and to permit response time by the applicant
• Written comment sheets will be provided, and appended to the facilitated meeting report, to ensure that every voice is heard

 Shannon Watson

ADR Coordinator

City of Albuquerque