Rick Meyer Testimony Opposing Bill 18-23 and Urging Council to Fully Fund the Office of the People's Counsel
Restore full funding to the statutorily mandated Office of the People’s Counsel (OPC) Testimony of W. E. “Rick” Meyer Public Hearing Bill 18-23, Structure of County Government – Community Zoning and Land Use Resource Officer April 18, 2023 I appear this afternoon in steadfast opposition to Bill 18-23. This Council needs to end more than a decade of shameless efforts to lock residents out of zoning processes. The first step the Council can take towards rebuilding resident trust and repairing the engagement process 1 is to vote against 18-23 and to restore full funding to the statutorily mandated People’s Counsel (OPC). If I might be allowed to present an example of the bewildering hyper complexity of zoning issues – an example that dramatically illustrates why residents desperately need the fully funded legal resources of a People’s Counsel. That example is the debacle of ZTA 19-07. That wireless zoning ZTA was the cumulative effort of a powerful and persistent PHED Chair. It took him...