More than 3,000 community leaders and citizens from throughout northeastern Illinois will take part in an Electronic Town Meeting (ETM) later this year as the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) begins an innovative public participation process to determine how more than $100 billion of public money will be spent in the coming years.

NIPC unveiled "Common Ground: A Blueprint for Regional Action" at a news conference on Thursday, January 18, 2001. The goal of "Common Ground" is to create a new Comprehensive General Plan with widespread citizen involvement, using the latest technology such as video teleconferencing and keypad polling. It will also provide key input to the Regional Transportation Plan for 2030 and keep the public involved in major regional issues and decision-making in the future.

At the day-long ETM, which will take place simultaneously at 10 locations throughout the region, citizens will work with neutral discussion leaders to talk about the issues that matter to them. They'll use networked laptop computers to record their views on the issues raised and keypads to vote on specific questions. Results will be flashed on large screens almost instantly.

The ETM takes the traditional New England town hall format to a regional scale by linking citizens at the various locations to develop a common vision for the kind of regional environment they want to live and work in by the year 2050. They'll also develop a shared view of what the region's place should be in an increasingly global universe.

Prior to the ETM, beginning in early February NIPC will hold a series of Leadership Workshops in the 6 counties. Participants in these workshops will be government, business, civic, and community leaders who will help define the major regional issues to be addressed at the ETM and come up with ways to involve the widest range of citizens in it.

According to Commission President Herb Schumann, "Common Ground" takes regional cooperation to a new level. "We are delighted to have the endorsement and help of a wide range of elected officials, civic organizations, and governmental agencies. With their assistance and support, we are confident that this process will enable us to ensure that every sector of our region is involved in finding solutions to the situations we face in the future."

NIPC is undertaking "Common Ground" in partnership with the Metropolitan Mayors' Caucus, represented at the news conference by New Lenox President Michael K. Smith. It was also formally endorsed by representatives of NIPC's Interagency Agreement partners including Carla Berroyer, Bureau Chief of Urban Program Planning for the Illinois Department of Transportation, Richard J. Bacigalupo, Executive Director of the Regional Transportation Authority, and Eugene Ryan, Deputy Director of the Chicago Area Transportation Study. Others in attendance to show their support were Scott Goldstein of the Metropolitan Planning Council, James LaBelle of Chicago Metropolis 2020, and Ellen Shubart of the Campaign for Sensible Growth, among many others.

For more information, please contact Alice Kaderlan, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, (312) 454-0401x707, kaderlan@nipc.org. 

The Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission was created by the Illinois Legislature to undertake comprehensive planning for the six-county metropolitan area. NIPC also provides technical and research assistance and reviews state and federal grant requests for local governments.

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