Letter to Board and Committee Members v DRAFT
Letter to Board and Committee Members
October 2, 2006
The City of Atlantic Beach greatly appreciates your service on one of our many boards and
committees. This service requires not only many hours of your time and commitment, but
sometimes requires difficult decisions to vote on issues that affect our friends and neighbors.
However, you can be assured that your service helps to make Atlantic Beach the great place to
live and work that it is today.
The purpose of this letter is to pass along some expectations of all of our board and committee
members that will help guide you in your service to the city. The first of these deals with
attendance. Your attendance at the meetings is important. Any absences at the meetings would
deny the applicant their full consideration on any issue going before those boards that review
applications for various city code regulated activities. In the worst case, not being at a meeting
may cause for your board or committee to be unable to conduct business for lack of a quorum.
This is not only a waste of time for other members as well as the applicants, but can also be
• embarrassing for the city. We realize that members occasionally have personal conflicts that
prevent their attendance at all the meetings. It is appropriate when such a conflict comes up is to
notify your staff liaison as soon as you are aware of the conflict.
A second expectation deals with representation of Atlantic Beach. Every one of you represents
the city in very important ways. Memberships on one of the city's boards or committees often
requires that you forego a certain amount of freedom of personal expression on matters that may
be brought before your board or committee. The expression of individual preferences or
philosophies before any item may be heard by your board can create the appearance of having
your mind made up on an issue before it is even discussed. This can create a certain legal
liability for the city and give applicants the impression that their issues will not be fairly
considered. Consequently, you should refrain from any public comments on an issue that may
be brought up for your consideration. These comments would range anywhere from writing
letters to the editor to simply expressing your views in any public forum. After your board or
committee has met on any issue,the best way to express your vote or recommendation is through
the official minutes. Even if your vote was not in the majority on any issue,the best way to
express your opinion is by ensuring that your position is summarized in the minutes. In that way,
anyone who is interested can read the minutes for themselves. If there is any question about any
recommendation made by a board or committee, then the Mayor or Commission may request the
chairman to make a presentation at a city commission meeting.
The issues that you consider as a board or committee member for the City of Atlantic Beach are
important and contribute to our quality of life. The City greatly appreciates your service.
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