Frequently Asked Questions

Do we really need to approve the time and place of each Committee’s meetings?

The current standing committee resolution states:

"Each Standing Committee shall establish a time and place for its regular meetings. Once the Standing Committee has established a time and place for its regular meetings, the Standing Committee shall request the City Council to approve the time and place of the regular meeting."

If a committee wishes to change their meeting time date/time, they may request that the City Clerk add an item to the next City Council agenda. The request generally is placed on consent for approval.

Do we need the Town Council to exempt Committee officers from serving more than two terms? If the Committee is happy with the same person serving as Secretary or Chairperson for more than two years, does it matter?

The current standing committee resolution states:

"(d) At its first regular meeting in July of each year, each Standing Committee shall elect, by a simple majority of the members present, from its membership a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary and such other officers as the Standing Committee deems advisable, who shall not serve for more than two {2} consecutive one {1} year terms. If at the time of the election, it is determined that there are no viable nominations for the slate of officers including the Chairperson, the Committee may request an exemption of the general rule pertaining to the term(s) for the Officers/Chairperson from the City Council."

This does not prevent the Council from allowing additional terms. It just asks that other members be considered before appointing someone for a third term. An exemption request is generally placed on the consent calendar for the Council to extend the term of chair.

Does the Town Council need to evaluate Committee actions and directions?

The committees are appointed and serve at the direction of the City Council.

The current standing committee resolution states:

"a) Each of the Standing Committees shall have the general power and duty TO RENDER ADVICE AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS to the City Council, Planning Commission, or the City Manager and other Town bodies designated by the City Council on all aspects of its particular sphere of interest.

(d) The City Council shall advise Standing Committees of any evaluation made of the Standing Committee’s actions and direction, and any proposed action to amend the Standing Committees charges."

Ultimately if committees need the Town to act on one of their recommendation the council would need to act on said items. In order to take action they would need to evaluate Committee actions and directions to ensure they are in alignment with the goals, priorities and budget.

Strictly limiting residents to two terms would eliminate needed members from some committees and needed expertise from other committees. Unless volunteers are lining up to join committees, is this really necessary? Item (5) seems to allow exceptions.

The current standing committee resolution states:

• Each Committee member shall be eligible for reappointment upon application to the City Council, but the City Council shall encourage new applicants in order to promote widespread community involvement. To achieve this, the City Council will generally not appoint an applicant who has served for two {2} consecutive terms as a member of that Committee, within a period of two {2} years from the expiration of their most recent term. These term limits do not constrain a resident from being appointed as an associate member of that Committee, nor from applying for appointment to any other Town Committee.

The Council has complete discretion to appoint a member to more than two consecutive terms.

Why can’t residents serve concurrently on more than one of Pathways, Open Space, and Environmental Design Committees?

The current standing committee resolution states:

"not serve as a member (as distinguished from an associate member) on more than one of the following committees concurrently: Pathways Committee; Open Space Committee; and Environmental Design and Protection Committee. Individual committee members currently serving as members on more than one of these committees are grandfathered in and may continue to serve on more than one of these committees until their respective term ends on one of these committees."

This was created to avoid conflicts of interest as a single member would be asked to ask on the same application multiple times in a different capacity. Having multiple members serve on each committee ensures a wider range of opinions and perspectives on a single project

Why does the Town Council need to approve associate members of the Environmental Design, Pathways, and Open Space Committees?

The current standing committee resolution states:

"The associate members of each Standing Committee shall be appointed by a majority vote of their respective committees.
The appointment of associate members of the Environmental Design and Protection Committee, Pathways Committee, and Open Space Committee shall be subject to the approval of the City Council.Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the duties of the associate members of those committees do not include site visits, City Council approval shall not be required."

This regulation came about because non-residents can be associate members. At the time it was added to the standing committee resolution, the City Council had expressed concerns about non-residents participating in site visits on resident properties without proper vetting.

Document Requests must come from the Committee chair and be made during a noticed meeting. This will mean that obtaining document may require up to two months lead time.

This is not currently addressed in the standing committee resolution and is being suggested with the edits to the resolution and code of conduct. The purpose of this addition ensures information being included in a committee’s agenda are directed through the chair and placed on the agenda to ensure public transparency and reflect the will of the majority of the committee. In order to comply with the Brown act new business must be agendized and discussed in open session and supporting documents must be included into the public record.