Loading...
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