Coastal Recovery Commission of Alabama | CRC Kick-Off Meeting: “Brain Dump,” Then To-Do List

CRC Kick-Off Meeting:
“Brain Dump,” Then To-Do List

Sep 29, 2010

On September 28, one day after Gov. Bob Riley signed the executive order creating the Coastal Recovery Commission (CRC), its members convened at the Five Rivers Center in Spanish Fort for their initial meeting.

Photo credits: Mobile Press Register

In his opening remarks to the group, Gov. Riley reminded them this “is an opportunity I’m not too sure we’ll ever have again.”

The opportunity: To position South Alabama to be more resilient as a region — economically, socially, and environmentally. That means making residents and visitors safer when catastrophes such as the recent Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill strike. It means protecting the coast’s environmental assets. And it means making South Alabama a healthier and more prosperous place to live and work.

By Dec. 15, 2010, the Commission will have completed a report it will hand over to Gov. Riley and to the man who will replace him come January. That report will propose “a roadmap for resilience.”

To get up to speed, read the Project Overview column to the right, then see media reports on the Sep. 30 meeting and events leading up to it here. For background on the Commission’s research, look under WHAT & WHY. Finally, watch the video below that introduces the Commission’s goals and principles.

The September 30 meeting was more than just a ceremonial gathering. Immediately after the opening session, members took part in small group discussions characterized as a “brain dump.” They were facilitated table conversations designed to draw out Commission members’ best understanding of the impacts of the oil spill and their implications for South Alabama in three broad categories: the coastal environment; the social, physical, and mental health of the region; and the South Alabama economy.

After the discussion of impacts, participants were encouraged to think of ways in which policies and projects might help build South Alabama’s capacity to bounce back from future challenges. Using notes from those table conversations, Commission members then divided in their broad committee groups – Environment, Health, Economy – and worked on next steps for their research and analysis. Click through the following slideshow for images captured throughout the day.

[Show as slideshow]

Follow the progress of our efforts here. We’ll update everyone regularly on the work of the committees and subcommittees. So return often – and let us you’re your concerns and questions in the space below.

FILED UNDER: News and InformationTAGS: Alabama Gulf coast, Coastal Recovery Commission, Deep Water Horizon, Governor Bob Riley, oil spill, south Alabama

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A once-in-a generation opportunity is upon us. A transformational moment in Alabama history.

That’s how Gov. Bob Riley described hopes for the Coastal Recovery Commission (CRC) of Alabama, created by his executive order on September 27, 2010.

The CRC’s mission: To shape, in the wake of BP’s Deep Water Horizon oil spill, “a roadmap to resilience” for South Alabama.

“We must do everything we can to restore what’s been lost because of this disaster,” said Gov. Riley. “But we should also use this moment to strengthen the resilience of our state and coastal communities. The commission will recommend ways that improve our ability to respond to future challenges and examine strategies that will mean far less suffering the next time a catastrophe threatens us.”

The CRC’s work is funded entirely with BP money already contributed to the state. No tax dollars will be used. What’s more, Gov. Riley took pains to insulate the Commission as much as possible from politics as usual. Since he leaves office in January, he’s acutely aware that the recommendations of the Commission will be in another governor’s hands. So he’s reached out to the political camps of both men vying to replace him, inviting them to appoint their own representatives to the Commission to participate in shaping a report that should inspire the new governor no matter who wins in the November elections.

What’s more, Gov. Riley is asking local elected officials to give the Commission a little room to work. “We’ll bring politicians in,” said the governor. “But this will be a citizen-led – not a politician-led – effort. If we do that, I promise you it will be successful.”

The CRC is made up of citizen leaders with broad ranges of experience in civic life in Alabama’s coastal region. It’s headed by Mobile Press-Register publisher Ricky Mathews, who brings to this effort the experience of a similar commission in the post-Hurricane Katrina environment of coastal Mississippi. For a complete list of CRC members, go here.

“What we learned after Katrina on the Mississippi Coast,” said Mathews, “is that a crisis of even enormous proportions provides opportunities to re-imagine a whole region.

“If we do our work on this commission right,” Mathews said, “we can position South Alabama for not only bouncing back more effectively from future catastrophes like oil spills and hurricanes but also for providing greater security and more opportunity for all of our citizens, even when there are no emergencies. That’s the essence of resiliency.”

Forging consensus on what the oil spill’s impacts were and how to make the coast safer for citizens and visitors and more secure for long-term investment is tough enough. Implementing the Commission’s recommendations next year and in the years after will be harder – if the Commission is not able to begin building coalitions of support during this process. “If we’re to make the most of this opportunity,” said Mathews, “we have to begin thinking bigger and broader than we ever have.

“Oil spills and hurricanes don’t just threaten isolated spots on a map,” said Mathews. “Their effects reverberate through an entire state, through a region even. So our chances for coping with future threats depend upon us building a regional vision, an awareness of how we’re connected with one another and how we can work with one another to do more than any of us as individual citizens or individual communities ever imagined.”

This is a project on a fast track. At some point – no one knows exactly when – there is the potential for billions of dollars to flow to the coastal states from BP and from other energy-related sources. To assure that Alabama is positioned to make the most of this potential investment, “we need a plan,” said Gov. Riley. And it has to come quickly.

So the Commission is committed to delivering its report by Dec. 15, initially as a downloadable pdf from this website. Printed books will be available soon thereafter.

The Commission is organizing its work under three broad topics, each connected with the other and each representing a key component of regional adaptability and sustainability:

A Healthy Environment
A Healthy Society
A Healthy Economy

Commission members are assigned to each of the topics and will break the broader categories into sub-committees as they see fit. We’ll report on the activities of those committees and sub-committees on this website regularly.

This is a very public process. Participation of regional experts, elected and appointed officials from all the towns and counties affected by the oil spill, regional business folks, and residents will have plenty of opportunities to review CRC work in progress and contribute their ideas and comments. They’ll be able to do that in person at community meetings, by mail or phone, and online via this website.

Here’s how to make the best use of this site:

If you want to know who’s on the Commission and who’s staffing it, click on the WHO tab in the toolbar above.

If you want to understand the CRC’s mission, get answers to frequently asked questions, and see background data committees are gathering, click on the WHAT & WHY tab.

If you want to know the schedule of public events and locations for meetings, click on the WHEN & WHERE tab.

If you want to contact us directly, you’ll find information under CONTACT US, and at the bottom of each news post in the column to the left, is space for comments and questions.

If you want to read or see what others are saying about the CRC effort, we’ll post links and documens under IN THE NEWS.

This is going to move fast. So keep in touch. We need your participation.