Agenda Item Title:
Title
City Council Office recommending the appointment of Council Members to various external organizations and recommended special committees.
Body
Presenter:
Mike Applegarth
Body
Description/Background:
Historically the City Council has appointed its Members to various external and internal committees approximately every six months. In addition, the Council has appointed citizens to internal committees formed in various ways and for various purposes. With the exception of the auto mall architectural review committee and the civic center architectural review committee, none of the internal special advisory committees such as the parks committee, transportation committee, historic committee, etc. have ever been codified. This has led to conflicting documentation on terms, appointment authority, and membership. In some cases, practice has deviated from policy resulting in appointments made to committees that no longer function, or for which there was no appointment authority documented. Tracking of committee membership has proved difficult given these circumstances. Another significant concern was whether or not advisory committees formed in conjunction with Administration had to meet the requirements of the Open and Public Meetings Act.
In early 2017 the Council Office requested, and the Council agreed to put a hold on assigning different Members and citizens to committees in order to work with Administration to bring clarification to this process. The Council twice passed a resolution continuing the appointments of Members and citizens as then currently understood. The Council Office began working on a proposal to streamline the committee process and ensure compliance with the Open and Public Meetings Act. However, this project was put on hold over the summer by Administration.
Working with the new Administration, the Council Office proposes Resolution #18-06C. The Resolution identifies the external organizations available for Council Member appointment, the special committees which should continue but adhere to the Open and Public Meetings Act, and the traditional committees that will be recast as executive ad-hoc focus groups for which formal appointments are no longer necessary.
Further action to be taken:
The Council Office will work with Administration to clarify the appointment authority, membership, and terms of citizen appointments to special committees and bring back resolutions streamling the process.
Recommended Action and/or Suggested Motion:
Recommendation
1. Make recommended appointments.
2. Motion to adopt Resolution #18-06C.