Right now, only city councilors receive the agenda packets produced by the city for council meetings. Instead, let's make these packets available to everyone via the city's web site, by the Friday preceding the (Monday) meeting. The agendas should also be provided to the local media at least 4 days before each meeting.

Citizens could comment on the agenda items via the web, and these comments could be delivered, via e-mail, to the councilors, to be included in council meeting minutes.

Councilors should be given city e-mails (i.e. blair@astoria.or.us), like the mayor currently has, and phone numbers, and be required to respond to all (reasonable) inquiries. City-owned space should be used to hold community meetings, where councilors would gather input from their constituents, at the councilor's discretion.

Minutes from the council meetings should be accessible via the city's web site the day after the council meetings. In this way, citizens can use the information to act on any relevant items immediately. It would also provide a check on the media coverage of the meetings.

Like county commission meetings, city council meetings should be (audio) recorded and available through the city's web site by the next day (or streamed live), with possible broadcast on local radio stations. The city should explore the possibility of video recording of the council meetings for airing on community cable channels, or via the city's web site.

Council meetings should be held in a larger room, with much better airflow than the council chambers. Snacks and water should be made available to the public, with maybe a short mixer period before the meeting to network.

Public comments at council meetings should be taken as the first agenda item at each meeting, not the last, as is currently done. These in-person comments would be added to the e-mail, telephone and mail-in comments received before the meeting, and become part of the record. Citizens could choose to then leave after giving comments, or stay for the rest of the meeting. Citizen participation in the council discussion should also be encouraged.

Finally, it should be easy to visit city hall and obtain the agendas and minutes for all council meetings and activities, and talk to city staff about any concerns.

Amend city charter to encourage more people to participate in councilor elections.

Chapter III of the city charter should be amended, by referendum, to elect all council members (including mayor) at-large, for two-year terms. Section 6.2 of the charter should also be amended to provide compensation packages much more lucrative than the current $60/month for councilors and $100/month for the mayor. Something in the range of $500-$750 per month seems adequate. Shorter terms, at-large voting, and higher compensation should provide more incentive for residents to run for council office in the future.

The city charter should also be amended to provide proportional representation by council members. The top four choices for council would get seats, and the top mayoral candidate would gain office. The threshold for gaining a seat on the council would be lowered, and would allow for representation for more groups of voters (i.e. progressives, conservatives, white collars, blue collars, women, minorities, etc.).

Build a library, community center and sports complex.

The Astoria Public Library should be rebuilt into a first-class, state-of-the-art library. Funds are evidently available to start this project, and the library board has a plan to build a new library already. An agreement should be drawn up with Clatsop Community College to share resources, and join networks, making interlibrary loans available to the Astoria Public Library, and allowing patrons to borrow books, media and use the computer resources of both libraries with one card. Every effort should be made to create a Clatsop County library system, which could also network with the Timberland Library System in southwest Washington.

The Aquatic Center and Senior Center should become part of a community center that could be centered around the current site of the pool, or the center could be distributed over several properties. The center would include facilities for all ages -- community meeting rooms, game rooms, computer facilities, and other community services. The center could even include racket sport facilities, basketball courts, or other sports facilities. Coordination with Clatsop Community College might help this endeavor.

A sports complex, including an ice rink, should be built either adjacent to Warren Field or in Tapiola Park.

These facilities would provide recreation and community gathering space for Astorians, as well as others from around the county, and up and down the coast. Seaside could serve as a model for these facilities. Astoria's Bicentennial celebration could provide the funding for these legacy facilities.

Adopt an urban forest plan.

The Great Gale of 2007 precipitated a massive cut of trees in addition to the trees blown down in the storm. There is no city plan to replant these trees, and no guidelines for maintaining our urban forest. There is a great opportunity for the community to participate in tree planting, planning and beautification of our streets, gardens and natural areas.

The city has begun thinking about an urban forest plan. Like the Riverfront Vision Plan, the community should participate in planning out how to live in our rural environment in safety and enjoy all the benefits of trees.

Enforce noise ordinances and speed limits, and improve traffic flow through the city.

Astorians for Livable Neighborhoods (ALN) has presented a petition to the city to enforce noise and speed ordinances, with no action taken by the city. Though traffic is not a significant problem in Astoria, it can be a problem in some areas of the city. Setting appropriate speed limits, making sure people are not disturbed by excessive noise, and providing proper signage can make these problems much less bothersome, enhance safety, and get traffic moving more efficiently through town.

The one-way grid downtown should be scrapped, replaced with two-way streets, including Marine Drive, which should become Highway 30 all through Astoria. This would end confusion, allow Commercial Street to be a more amenable commercial and retail center, and still keep through traffic moving. Most importantly, it would obviate the need for the "Astoria Bypass" through the hills east of town.

Update zoning throughout the city, and provide a blueprint for development.

The Riverfront Vision Plan is looking at zoning along the waterfront, between Marine Drive and the water. We should extend this effort to all areas of the city, engaging the residents of the city in a charette-style process of visioning what the city should look like for the next few years. Zoning should be adjusted accordingly, and guidance provided for development. Instead of hearing development proposals in a quasi-judicial setting, the city would work with its citizens, developers and agencies to make Astoria look like its residents want it to look. This process could occur perhaps once a decade, to update zoning and development guidelines to reflect the residents' views at the time.

This effort will probably necessitate changes in the city charter.

Work with other cities and the county on issues that affect Astoria.

Issues such as LNG and other large business development, infrastructure (i.e. roads, water and sewer, electricity, etc.), and affordable housing are regional in nature, but affect Astoria. It is appropriate therefore to engage other governments in the area, and the business community, and the residents, in discussions that help to make policies that benefit all of us, taking other jurisdictions into effect when planning new development, for instance.

The mayor could appoint a commission to represent Astoria in looking at these regional issues.