Charter commission plans public testimony, outreach and a public tracker for Ithaca City revisions

The Ithaca City Charter Commission steering committee agreed to prioritize public accessibility by taking most invited testimony before the full commission and by developing public-facing communications including meeting summaries and an online tracker for amendment status.

Victor Kessler said he would "be in favor of having most of the testimony be before the commission," arguing that when testimony is only heard in working groups the full commission may miss material facts and duplication becomes likely. Members pointed to concrete examples—such as inviting the board of elections to explain the practicalities of special elections and redistricting—and agreed those briefings should be open to all commissioners and the public.

Clyde Letterman volunteered to draft a short post-meeting summary and circulate it to commissioners for markup, and the Chair said he would write to the mayor and common council with a status update early next week. The steering committee also discussed outreach options including surveys, public forums, targeted neighborhood listserv posts, and the possibility of an op-ed or joint statement explaining the commission's purpose and timeline.

The group reviewed a prototype charter tracker (a public Google Doc in the commission folder) designed to show amendment status and which working group or stage each item is in. Members asked the working-group chairs to review the tracker structure and recommended making it public once chairs sign off so residents can follow progress.

Next steps: compile suggested witnesses and invitations for the April general meeting; finalize the tracker structure with working-group chairs; Chair to send a summary and a status email to mayor and council.