3-1-17 BMRC Minutes v MINUTES
Board Member Review Committee Meeting
March 1, 2017
6:00 p.m.
THOSE IN ATTENDANCE:
John Stinson- Chair of the Board Member Review Committee
Solomon Brotman-Member of the Board Member Review Committee
Jennifer Lada-Member of the Board Member Review Committee
Staff
Donna Bartle—City Clerk and Non-Voting Member of the Board Member Review Committee
Joanie Bowman—Administrative Assistant to the City Clerk&Recording Secretary
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Commissioner Stinson.
1. Approval of minutes
A. Approval of the minutes of the Board Member Review Committee Meeting on
November 17, 2016.
Motion: Approve minutes of the Board Member Review Committee meeting on November
17,2016.
Moved by Lada, Seconded by Brotman
Motion Carried unanimously
B. Approval of the minutes of the Board Member Review Committee Meeting on
January 19, 2017.
Ms. Lada inquired why it was necessary to take minutes at the informational meeting. City Clerk
Bartle explained the requirement.
Motion: Approve minutes of the Board Member Review Committee meeting on January 19,
2017.
Moved by Lada, Seconded by Brotman
Motion Carried unanimously
2. Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors
Chris Jorgensen, 92, W. 3rd St., expressed concern about scheduling conflicts when two city
board/committees meet at the same time.
Commissioner Stinson explained Interim City Manager Hogencamp is handling those conflicts
and has committed that those type of conflicts will not occur again.
Judy Workman, 787 Vecuna Rd., stated that she was there to find out what the Board Member
Review Committee's function is. She expressed concerns about the way the board chairs are
elected and lengthy tenures of members.
Commissioner Stinson explained the Board Member Review Committee interviews interested
applicants and makes recommendations to the City Commission about appointing members. He
further explained the Committee's current efforts to improve the process and standardize boards
and committees. He stated he would look into Ms. Workman's concern regarding the election
process and get back with her.
3. Discuss the concepts proposed by the board chairs and liaisons to improve board
recruitment and retention.
Commissioner Stinson referred to the minutes from January 19, 2017, noting they do a great job
of detailing the concepts proposed by the board chairs and liaisons. He gave an overview of the
recommendations that were made by the combined group.
Commissioner Stinson explained all the boards/committees are an integral part of the process on
improving the way in which they recruit, retain, mentor, train and evaluate prospective board
members and then make recommendations. He explained the Board Member Review Committee
will need to discuss how they should integrate into the overall plan.
Recruitment
Commissioner Stinson asked members for suggestions on how this Committee can improve its
recruitment.
Mr. Brotman spoke about having the members recruit and recommend someone to replace them.
Commissioner Stinson agreed that it would be a great tool to have board members recruit by
making recommendations for a replacement six months before their tenure ends.
Ms.Lada spoke about producing a pamphlet that addresses board requirements as well as initiating
a marketing plan. She suggested setting up booths at some of the community events, such as Art
Walk or Arts in the Park, that draw a large portion of people from the community to recruit.
Ms. Bartle mentioned there was a lack of board applicants from the west side of Mayport Road in
the past and that the new Farmer's Market on Mayport Road may be a venue that could serve as a
resource for recruitment as well.
Ms. Lada expressed she would like to see a consolidated list of City events and then suggested
working with the other boards to have a representative at each of those events. She believed that
by taking a rotational approach in doing some education, it would not be burdensome on any one
person or any one board and they would have shared responsibility.
Commissioner Stinson asked whether the Board Member Review Committee should be made up
of Chairs from the various boards/committees or have board service with the City of Atlantic
Beach before being appointed to this Committee.
Ms. Lada expressed while she could understand the qualities that having previous board service
may lend, it is more important to educate interested members about what the different
boards/committees do and how they function. She stated she did not feel that it was necessary for
incoming members to have previous service on a board/committee to understand its purpose.
Commissioner Stinson agreed it may be more important to look at what the perspective board
members motives and qualifications are for serving. He asked whether this Committee should be
involved in interviewing candidates interested in serving on the Board Member Review Committee
and make recommendations to the Mayor.
Mr. Brotman explained why he did not believe it would be helpful to the Mayor. He suggested
that if the Mayor requested nominations for perspective board members that would be appropriate.
He also stated he would not have been able to serve on this committee had there been a requirement
of previous service in Atlantic Beach.
Discussion ensued about reviewing the ordinances; changing the rules related to committees and
boards to make them consistent throughout; and streamlining the process for appointing members.
Mr. Brotman stated he would like to see all the boards and committees have the same exact rules.
Commissioner Stinson agreed and reported his plan to use the City Attorney's help with
standardizing the various boards and committees.
Mr. Brotman addressed Mr. Jorgensen's concern, explaining the need to schedule the different
board meetings so there are no conflicts.
Ms. Workman stated she attends various board meetings and commented that each board does not
know what the other boards are doing. She believes that the boards are not a cohesive element.
She further stated very rarely does she ever see members of the other boards at Commission
Meetings and felt that they do not know what the repercussions of their decisions are to the
Commission and vice versa. She questioned how many board meetings a person attends before
applying to that board.
Mr. Brotman asked Ms. Bartle if the Committee and Board meeting minutes are placed in the
Commission agendas packets. Ms. Bartle stated they are not. She explained the minutes are online
and various meetings are video-taped and accessible on the City's website. Mr. Brotman asked if
the minutes from all the various boards could be placed in the Commission packets and sent
electronically. Ms. Bartle stated it is customary that they put only the items that the Commission
will be addressing in the packet and can access all of the meeting minutes at any time on the
website. Mr. Brotman suggested that the Commission be reminded about what the various boards
are doing.
Commissioner Stinson asked Mr. Brotman if he was asking that we share the individual
committee's and board's agendas and minutes with the Commission.
Mr. Brotman stated yes, so that they know what is going on downstream from them.
Ms. Bartle understood Ms. Workman's concern to be that the people on the boards do not know
what the other boards are doing.
Ms. Workman stated she felt that the written word does not depict exactly what took place and
believes you almost have to see it. She explained that the Mayor sat in on the last Community
Development Board Meeting and observed the workings of the board. She felt that needs to be
done once in a while just to see the dynamics of the personalities and what is going on. She
expressed concern about the way they vote. She believes they should be asking questions and
doing homework on the things that they are voting on.
Commissioner Stinson summarized the list of the high points from the previous meetings minutes.
Training
Ms. Lada spoke about specialized training and the need to understand special requirements so that
the BMRC can ask those things of the perspective candidates as well as other pertinent questions.
She believes training should be a requirement and that there be a deadline associated with it.
Commissioner Stinson suggested that it could be a part of the evaluation process. He spoke about
the Board Member Review Committee defining a schedule for the coming year so people can plan.
There was discussion about utilizing online training for Sunshine Law and Ethics and possibly
making it public by providing the link on the City website and in the City newsletter.
Mentoring
They discussed the concept of having outgoing members mentor incoming members and Sunshine
Law. Commissioner Stinson indicated he would ask the City Attorney about the limitations and
regulations on communications between elected officials and committee/board members.
Evaluation
Commissioner Stinson spoke about videotaping the meetings,ranking the interviewees and having
representatives from each board and committee present an annual report to the City Commission.
Ms. Bartle referred back to Mr. Brotman's inquiry about each boards minutes being placed in the
agenda packet and suggested, rather than putting all of the minutes in the packet, including a list
of all of the boards and committees with the times that they met and instructions on how they can
locate the minutes on the website.
Mr. Brotman explained the need to inform the Commission about what the boards/committees are
doing.
Commissioner Stinson stated that one of the committees mentioned they wanted to come before
the Commission and give a short synopsis of what they had accomplished because the
acknowledgement and recognition by the Commission was important to recruitment.
Discussion ensued about standardizing the rules to include each board and committee giving an
annual report to the Commission.
Ms. Lada reported that the evaluation side of this process drew differing opinions. She spoke
about the need to evaluate as to whether you have an effective board or committee or not explaining
the importance of the attendance report, self-evaluation, and having the board/committee chair
evaluate each member.
Mr.Brotman suggested they contact Rena Coughlin,an Atlantic Beach citizen,who owns the Non-
Profit Resource Center of Northeast Florida for the forms they may need.
Ms. Bartle stated the evaluations would have to be public record.
Ms. Lada stated the purpose for the evaluations is to receive constructive feedback.
Commissioner Stinson stated he will reach out to Ms. Coughlin and see if she can come to our
next meeting.
Retention
Commissioner Stinson reported on the previous suggestions which included recognizing members
with plaques and certificates at Commission meetings; moving the Cultural Arts and Recreation
Advisory Committee meetings to the Commission Chamber; expanding and normalizing the use
of alternates for all boards and committees and possibly restructuring the Cultural Arts and
Recreation Advisory Committee due to lack of participation and difficulties meeting a quorum.
Mr. Brotman explained why he believed the Cultural Arts and Recreation Advisory Committee
should be two separate Committees. There was a discussion about Sunshine Laws and alternates.
Discussion ensued about the Board Member Review Committee coming up with an overall plan
and giving it to the City Attorney to standardize across all the boards and committees.
Commissioner Stinson requested that Ms. Bartle send the Board Member Review Committee
members all of the governing documents that created each Committee and how they are structured.
Ms. Bartle stated she would resend the Board Member Review Committee Notebook by email.
There was consensus from the Committee to utilize city email addresses (coab.us) for each Board
and Committee member.
There was further discussion about the process.
Chris Jorgensen, 92, W. 3rd St., thanked Commissioner Stinson for his time. He would like to
see the Cultural Arts and Recreation Advisory Committee meet in the Commissioner Chamber and
the Board Member Review Committee contact the selected candidate(s) while the meeting is still
in session. He spoke against expanding boards. He wants to see more use of technology in board
meetings and notices of meetings posted on the bulletin board at Tideview Park. He complimented
the work of this Committee and the combined group for their recommendations from the last
meeting. He spoke about the importance of planning in advance for loss of members.
Judy Workman, 787 Vecuna Rd., explained her understanding of what the Board Member
Review Committee(BMRC)is responsible for. She expressed concerns about the members of the
BRMC not attending any other board/committee meetings in order to understand their function
and dynamics. She explained she is currently an alternate member of a board and is very frustrated
to the point that she does not want to be a member anymore. She would like to see candidates who
are educated and do some homework be appointed to boards. She stated we need free thinkers,not
inbred people. She questioned whether the Board Member Review Committee process looks for
that. She believes the BMRC needs to be functional and make the other boards better, or it should
be disbanded.
Commissioner Stinson responded to Ms. Workman's concerns and explained the Board Member
Review Committee's current process and goal to improve all of the boards and committees. He
thanked Ms. Workman for her comments.
Ms. Bartle stated it also includes improving the Board Member Review Committee.
Mr. Brotman expressed his pleasure and honor to serve on the Board Member Review Committee.
Commissioner Stinson thanked Mr.Brotman for his excellent service to the Board and wished him
well.
Ms. Lada thanked Mr. Brotman as well.
Adjournment
There being no further discussion, Commissioner Stinson declared the meeting adjourned at 7:30
p.m.
John M. tinson 416Y1.4
Chairman