Many Evansville residents are aware of city council meetings and county commission meetings and how attending can be important.
But what about the Historic Preservation Commission, or the Affordable Housing Trust Fund?
Operating in the background of city business are organizations like the Department of Metropolitan Development, which encompasses several important city commissions.
“We have Historic Preservation, our Community Development, Redevelopment, Economic Development, and the Land Bank,” said Kolbi Jackson, executive director of the Department of Metropolitan Development. “And so all of those different things fall under the Department of Metropolitan Development.”
The Economic Development Commission for example, would be responsible for signing off on bond documents to finance the next big downtown project — like The Vault on Main.
These organizations have regular meetings about community improvement projects, and Jackson said many of their initiatives affect residents directly.
“I think public input is important,” she said. “We do these things for the residents so that they can have a community that that can be proud of. And so it's important for residents to speak up and speak out about things that are happening in their community.”
Jackson said for example, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund holds meetings about their projects.
“And these are projects that are directly going to go in neighborhoods where the residents are living,” Jackson said. “And so it would be helpful to see those public members attend. So they can give input, whether they feel like this is a good project for their neighborhood.”
Other impartment department meetings include the Evansville Water and Sewer Utility which is responsible for maintaining the massive drinking water, and wastewater systems, not to mention trash pickup.
The Area Plan Commission makes recommendations about zoning properties — new and old, public and private.
Upcoming meetings can be seen here, and past meetings are also archived here.