The city’s Economic Development Commission has been dormant for more than a year.
But the Board of Aldermen Tuesday took the first step toward resurrecting the commission by filling in vacant spots on the board.
Six people — including the existing chairman James Prestiano — were appointed.
No Quorum
It means the commission can meet for the first time in a long time, said Alderman John Marini, the liaison between the Economic Development Commission and the Board of Aldermen.
The Economic Development Commission hasn’t met largely because it lacked enough active members to make a quorum.
“It’s been my goal to find a fresh slate of individuals,” Marini said. “I am extremely happy to see a list of names for appointment.”
No specific meeting was scheduled as of Tuesday, but Marini said the group of interested commission members held an informal workshop in March to gauge interested and get started.
Typically, the former Economic Development Commission met the second Wednesday of the month.
Economic Development
Without the commission, the job of economic development has been left solely to the city’s Economic Development Director, Claude Perry.
“I’m delighted we have citizens that are prepared to participate,” Perry said.
Perry said the commission serves as a policy-making board while he performs the administrative tasks for economic development in the city.
“I don’t want to say that it was easy,” Perry said. “There are things that need to be done. I’m prepared to do them with or without the commission. But it makes it much easier when you have a policy making board for oversight.”
The commission was first formed in 1978 to respond to high unemployment in the area, according to a commission description on the City Web site. It was reorganized once in 1996.
The Appointees
The Board of Aldermen approved the following appointments to the committee:
- Tracy Edwards
- Sandra Epifano
- William Gallant
- James Hooker
- William Luneski
- James Prestiano