Council Communication

Review of Boards and Commissions
Meeting Date:	April 3, 2006		Primary Staff Contact:	Ann Seltzer
Department:	Administration		Email:	ann@ashland.or.us
Contributing Departments:			Secondary Staff Contact:	Gino Grimaldi
Approval:	Gino Grimaldi		Email:	grimaldig@ashland.or.us
Estimate Time:	1 hour

Statement: A review and evaluation of boards and commissions is an item that was identified for study session discussion at the council goal setting in 2005.
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Background: Over the years council members have mentioned the inconsistencies in the various ordinances and resolutions establishing city commissions, committees and boards (CCBs). Some commissions include the council liaison as a voting member others do not, one commission designates the council liaison as the commission chairperson. Each CCB was developed separately, some by ordinance and some by resolution, to address a specific need of the council at that time. In some cases the charge of one or more CCB appears to overlap with another e.g. Traffic Safety and Bike and Pedestrian. The establishment of the various CCBs range from 1973 (Senior Program Board) to 2003 (Public Art). The powers and duties of a number of the commissions have actually been completed. For example: Of the nine duties defined in the ordinance establishing the Street Tree Commission (1993), five of the items were specific actions that have been completed. The remaining four items relate to the commission's role as an advisory group and/or an educational group. Many of the powers and duties of the Housing Commission established in 1995 have been addressed through the Housing Needs Analysis and the Housing Action Plan. Occasionally council members have commented that a board or commission may take an action, which seems inconsistent with the policies or goals set by the council and prompt a council comment. Some councilors have wondered if the various CCBs have goals and if so are they developed with council goals in mind. Finally, given the growing demand on staff time, there is some concern that the demands placed on staff by some CCBs may not be an efficient use of staff time.
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Related City Policies: a. Legal Framework. Except where determined by state statute, Council generally has the power to establish or abolish CCBs and the Mayor has the authority to appoint and remove members with Council approval. There is some inconsistency between the enabling frameworks because each has been developed separately to address a specific need at the time. b. Standing versus Temporary. Standing CCBs can provide a valuable service to the community by providing in-depth advice to the council on a variety of topics and assume some of the workload from the council to research issues or gather public input. The council also creates temporary or ad hock committees to make recommendations on specific topics within a specified period of time. This report focuses on the standing CCBs. c. Current CCBs. Attached is a list of current CCBs which identifies the standing CCB, the number of voting members, voting council liaisons, council liaison chairs, number of assigned staff, legal framework either by ordinance or resolution and if it is inactive or has been repealed.
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Possible Approach to Assessing CCBs: Objective: • To ensure that the work of the CCBs meet the needs of the council and is connected to council goals. • To ensure that CCBs are efficient and effective in their respective charges. • To ensure that volunteers on CCBs feel connected, productive, useful and engaged. • To identify inconsistencies between the structure of the various CCBs. • To identify possible overlap of CCB work and purpose with other CCBs. • To ensure that qualified and motivated volunteers are aware of the opportunity to serve. Strategies: • Determine the needs of the council and how CCBs meet those needs. • Determine if commissions have goals and if so how they relate to council goals. • Determine if commissioners have a clear sense of direction. • Determine if the work of a commission overlaps with another commission. • Determine what training would be most useful for the commissions: goal setting, working together as a group, understanding the big picture etc. • Determine inconsistencies in CCB structure. Actions: • Survey each of the commissioners of the various CCBs and include questions related to the above. Survey commissioners who retire prior to completing their term of office to determine why. • Review and compare ordinances for each CCB and update if necessary. • Distribute a list of council goals to each staff liaison to share with the respective commission. • Identify and develop appropriate training for commissions. • Modify the Senior Programming Board resolution and eliminate reference to council liaison as senior programs is now a part of parks and recreation.
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Possible Discussion Issues: • Does the council want to make the structure equal for all commissions? e.g. All council liaisons vote or no council liaisons vote. All council liaisons are chair or no council liaisons are chair. • Do the active commissions meet the needs of the current council? Is it time to review and update the powers and duties of the commissions? • Does the council want advisory committees to establish goals? • How can the City attract qualified and motivated volunteers to participate on the CCBs? • Does the role of the council liaison need to be defined?
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Recruitment: Vacancies are advertised in the local paper and posted on the City's web site. Interested parties are asked to submit an application and letter of interest to the Mayor via the City Recorder's office. The Mayor fills vacancies from these letters of interest usually after consulting with the council liaison, the staff liaison and the committee chair.
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Attachments: Click on the PDF file below to view the following attachments: • Attachment A: List of CCBs and ordinances or resolutions for currently active CCBs  • Attachment B: Memos regarding combining Traffic Safety Commission with Bike and Pedestrian Commission • Attachment C: Ordinance or resolution for each CCB

CCB-Review-Attachments.pdf (2764.8KB)

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