It's back.. the Blue Ribbon Commission

From the City Council:

At the City Council meeting held on Tuesday, February 25, 2020, the Council voted 6 to 5, to establish a Blue Ribbon Commission for the following purpose:



To advise municipal leaders in identifying and meeting the short- and long-term needs of its leaders, workers, and residents to have safe, efficient and effective space to convene and conduct the business of the municipality of Framingham, including recommendations for ordinances and budgets to achieve its recommendations. The Commission shall survey the needs of public officials and municipal workers, identify opportunities to utilize innovate structures, techniques and technologies to achieve operational efficiencies, and solicit input from the public in developing a comprehensive plan for Framingham's Capital assets. The Commission shall present its report to the City Council no later than October 1, 2020.

At this time, we are seeking the following members: 

• Architect
• Engineer
• Veteran
• Retired Municipal Employee (City/Town of Framingham)
• Officer of any Framingham Municipal Union

Interested individuals should submit a letter of interest and resume via email to jgalliardt@framinghamma.gov  no later than Friday, March 13, 2020.

It will be 15 members strong, including the Mayor, Council Chair and one other member of the council, SC Chair, Chair of Disability commission, chair from Council on Aging as well from the Framingham Business Association and the Director of MWRTA.

Makes no sense to me at all, why Jim Paolini and Matt Torti and not on the list of must have people. What purpose does a retired Framingham employee and any officer of a Framingham union and a veteran have to do with an assessment of Framingham's buildings? Unless I misunderstand this, I see a very large group, headed by the Mayor that may not have the technical expertise to evaluate buildings. The original Blue Ribbon Committee was  last heard of in 2016, made similar recommendations about the Memorial Building and the Perini property, but nothing was done about it. The report is due out in October which may create more problems for buying the Perini building, which given the flood zone issue and the pollutants already known to be there underground, I'm not convinced it's a good deal.