Mayor Bill Haslam announced plans today to establish a position in his administration aimed at helping the city better respond to, and serve the needs of, its neighborhoods.

The person appointed to that post would increase the flow of information about the city's services, policies and resources to neighborhood organizations. At the same time he or she would also be a liaison between the neighborhoods and relevant decision makers inside the city government.The creation of the new position stems from recommendations made by the Mayor's Neighborhood Task Force in a report made to the mayor in January.The mayor appointed the 15-member body in 2006 to develop ideas how the city could be more responsive to its neighborhoods and to umbrella organizations like the Council of Involved Neighborhoods or COIN.The task force was co-chaired by Senior Director of Policy Development William Lyons and City Council Members Bob Becker and Chris Woodhull.The group has met on more than a dozen occasions."A city is really only as strong as the neighborhoods that it is made up of," Haslam said. "And I felt like, after studying the findings of the task force, that we did need to have someone who can act as a liaison between our many neighborhood organizations and people in government." "My hope is that this office will strengthen those neighborhood groups and give them a stronger voice while making the city government more responsive to the needs of citizens at a grassroots level." The mayor will include funding for the new position in the fiscal year 2007-2008 Budget. The person selected for the job would report to Madeline Rogero, Director of Community Development.