This is an article that ran in The Arizona Republic:
'Super-council committees' to tackle community issues
by Dianna M. Náñez - Sept. 19, 2008 07:44 AM
The Arizona Republic
On a mostly annual basis, Tempe's mayor creates City Council committees to address city problems and goals.
This year, Mayor Hugh Hallman formed committees that focus on future challenges. But he also thought it was time to take an innovative approach to some stubborn community issues.
"Nearly every council member has run on (improving) neighborhoods . . . but there's still a general sense that we have not gotten . . . (problems) satisfactorily addressed," he has said.
The city has invested time and money in neighborhoods, he said, but there remain rundown alleys, businesses that fail to maintain their landscape and blighted rental houses.
Mill Avenue has been the focus of economic strategies for decades, he said, but has yet to secure its position as a bustling business district.
Hallman has created what he dubs "super-council committees" to take on these issues, which he said require a council group approach combined with an appeal to residents for solutions.
The so-called super committees will include more than the traditional two council members per committee and will "allow those interested to brainstorm," he said.
