Over 340 applications were submitted to be part of the assembly, a 36-member group meant to represent a demographically balanced selection of residents. Wednesday, the panel was chosen lottery-style.
A civic lottery is how we get new people in the room who have maybe never engaged on a local issue before.Kit Anderson, CivicLex Deputy Director
The goal: reviewing parts of the city's urban county charter — think of it like the city's constitution — and delivering recommendations for changes to the city council, which has formally agreed to hear the ideas.
What is a Civic Assembly? Read more.
One topic the panel will review is compensation levels for city council members themselves. CivicLex's Richard Young said it's an issue that's received more attention lately, with a number of council members choosing not to seek reelection, and some citing pay as a factor.
"This has been a hotly-discussed topic in our community over the last several months and it just happened to be the topic where our respondents were most clearly divided," he said. "43% of respondents to our survey think council pay should be increased. 42% think that it should stay the same."
Current council compensation sits at just over $40,000 and while it's often considered part-time, nothing in the charter spells that out. The second topic the panel will discuss is just how often the city charter should be reviewed.
The assembly will meet through February and March of this year. A backup group is also being selected along with one youth member to be chosen separately.