Sponsors Council Meeting Summary

October 11, 2006

1:30AM – 3:30PM

Roger B. Wilson Boone County Government Center Commission Chambers

Meeting began with a presentation from Jennifer Lindbom, Senior Planner from ACP, Visioning & Planning. Jennifer briefed the Sponsors Council on the proposed project management scope of work and timeline. She discussed the importance of the outreach campaign and the difference between publicity and outreach. Publicity is creating the “buzz” and outreach is the key to generating participation in the visioning process and the upcoming 2 BIG meetings. Outreach through personal contacts will bring people to the meetings. Jennifer then discussed the 2 BIG (idea-gathering) meetings and how ideas shared at these meetings become the foundation of the vision for Columbia’s future. The ideas are handed to Citizen Topic Groups who will be charged with turning those ideas into goals. Citizen Topic Groups will convene in January 2007. Also discussed was the baseline data collection and forecasting analysis, also known as “The Fact Book”. A community’s existing conditions provides an important foundation for setting future direction and this will be a vital piece of the vision process. This analysis will be shared with the Vision Committee, Citizen Topic Groups, the public, and city staff. Jennifer wrapped up with confirming the time frame for the Vision Committee and Citizen Topic Group kick-off dates. Vision Committee will kick-off on November 9th and Citizen Topic Groups will kick-off sometime in January 2007.

Sponsors Council then began discussion on the process of selection the 2 Vision Co-Chairs. Sponsors Council members had been provided with the applications and resumes on October 9th and were ready to vote. It was decided that they would narrow the applicants from 23 to 6 finalists through a balloting exercise. The finalists would then be interviewed at the next meeting and two final appointments would be made. After balloting the 6 finalists were Dianne Drainer, Douglas Lange, Sally Beth Lyon, Nicholas H. Peckham, Mary Colton Wilkerson and Jeffrey Robert Williams.

Meeting was adjourned.