text: Framingham seeks candidates for four at-large seats on Community Preservation Act Committee
  Deadline to apply for at-large CPA Committee seats approaching
  FRAMINGHAM — Want to help the city develop a community preservation plan?
  The City Council is seeking four residents to serve as at-large members on the city's newly formed Community Preservation Committee.
  Voters in November adopted the Community Preservation Act, which allows the city to add a 1% surcharge to local property taxes to raise money to pay for often put-off open space, historic preservation, recreation and community housing projects.
  The nine-member committee will develop a community preservation plan — which includes studying the needs, community resources and possible uses of CPA money — conduct a thorough review of CPA proposals, make recommendations to the City Council for appropriation and action and maintain records and required reports, according to the volunteer position posting on the city's website.
  Residents with expertise in affordable housing, agriculture, historic preservation, recreation and open space, planning, land use project management and municipal finance are encouraged to apply, according to the posting.
  Interested residents are required to apply by Friday and can do so by visiting www.framinghamma.gov/jobs.
  The remaining five members of the committee will come from other multiple-member boards in Framingham, including the Planning Board, Housing Authority, Parks and Recreation Commission, Historical Commission and Conservation Commission. Each board will designate a member to serve on the CPA Committee.
  City councilors are expected to wait until each of the five feeder committees appoints its CPA Committee designee before choosing the four at-large members to ensure demographic and geographic diversity.
  Though the mayor appoints the members of the five feeder committees for the CPA Committee — and all other multiple-member committees under the charter — those boards' respective designees would be selected by the council, not the mayor. Spicer, who stressed she is in favor of the CPA, said the ordinance leaves the mayor out of the appointment process and is against the city charter.