Opinion: Madera 2050 — what’s the plan?

More than 20 years ago, several citizens’ committees formed and functioned to plan out our city’s future. Between 1999 and 2001, I served on the Steering Committee for CPR (Community Pride Renaissance), which was the brainchild of Gail McIntyre, former County Supervisor; Deby Bray, President of the District Chamber of Commerce; and the late Nancy Clute, then-Executive Director of the Madera County Arts Council. About 150 people attended our initial meeting.

About the same time, Deby Bray organized a series of seminars for community leaders, potential leaders, and stakeholders, called Leadership Madera. We who attended the 2000 class spent designated days studying various aspects of our community, like farming, law enforcement, and industry.

Congressional Study Circles

These activities merged into a local chapter of Congressional Study Circles. Participants in CPR, Leadership Madera, and other community stakeholders headed up smaller groups, each of which studied a particular sector of the community. Assignments were made to familiarize participants with the various aspects of the community, the problems (if any) that existed, and improvements that could be made.