The MAPC subregional councils are at the core of the agency’s mission and activities and should be a primary instrument for coordinating the efforts of the agency and member municipalities. 
Subregions provide a key avenue of communication between MAPC and member municipalities, and subregional coordinators are often the first point of contact for local officials or boards.  Coordinators are expected to keep abreast of planning and development issues in their subregion, and their advice or technical assistance is often sought.  However, these coordinators have a limited amount of time to devote to these activities, and little remains after meeting preparation, general communications, and other logistics are accomplished.

Subregional coordinators could strengthen the relationship between MAPC and its member municipalities, and could be key players in the implementation of MetroFuture.  Regular consultation with municipal planners and boards (and occasional attendance at those meetings) would help local officials to incorporate a regional perspective in local decisions.  The regular presence of coordinators at meetings and offices would help MAPC’s visibility in the subregions, making municipalities more likely to turn to the agency for technical assistance and to support its legislative and policy agendas.  

Subregional coordinators might also provide “small-scale” technical assistance, such as reviewing and commenting on the scope for project review, or providing feedback on a plan or study provided by a third party consultant.  They might also make it regular practice to review and comment or testify on significant zoning changes and major development proposals where appropriate (such as developments with regional impacts), including MEPA applications.  These technical assistance activities might necessarily involve small amounts of time for other staff with particular specialties, and general funding should be available to support this staff time

Subregional coordinators could also productively support local efforts through advocacy, outreach, and education.  These activities would seek to develop a constituency committed to regionally-minded planning and willing to support municipal planning initiatives to advance policies consistent with MetroFuture.  Coordinators might organize their networks of subregional contacts in support of a particular zoning change, for example; or they could provide data, targeted educational materials, and media outreach related to a particular issue.  

5.a    MAPC should seek additional funding, perhaps through increased assessment, to increase subregional capacity

5.b    MAPC should increase subregional advocacy/organizing activities

5.c    MAPC and municipalities should develop a process for MAPC review (advisory) of proposed zoning changes

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