2B, Council Liaison Expectations Roles and Responsibilities (2)

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No City Council wants their Commissions or Committees to become "Yes Men" in their approach to conducting business, whereby the Council only gets recommendations that it wants to hear and does not get the true opinions of the advisory group. The Council and the Commissions/Committees always want to have similar expectations and philosophies on such issues as land development, or spending, or activities or (fill in the blank). A good time for the Council expectations to be laid out and discussed is at annual joint meetings when the Committee/Commission work plans are reviewed. The setting of the work plan should also get some discussion at this work session. For example, the Council should discuss if the work plan is set by the Commission/Committee and accepted by the Council or if the work plan is mainly set by the Council and then given to the Commission/Committee. The Council does not want its Commissions/Committees working on projects that the Council doesn't want to touch. Usually Commissions/Committees want direction on what the City Council thinks is important work. I am a big believer in ongoing communication between the Council and its Commissions/Committees. In this regard, I believe that it is important to have the Liaison report back to the Council on "what is going on at the Commission/Committee meetings." This can be done monthly or quarterly but needs to be done at a regular meeting on cable TV so that the citizens at home also have an easy opportunity to know what is happening at City Hall. Also the City Council should regularly get the Commission/Committee meeting minutes. Additionally, an annual joint meeting is always a good way to keep the lines of communication open. Since I have been with the City, the Council has not met jointly with the EDC, FPAC,the Communications Committee, or Karth Lake. The annual summer Bar-B-Q is a good communication opportunity but I don't think it takes the place of the Council discussing issues of mutual concern and saying "thank you" to the Commissions/Committees at joint meetings. Recommendations I think that the Council should establish some general guidelines for Liaisons. I think that the guidelines should lean more toward a passive role for the Liaison but also allow enough flexibility so that if the Commission/Committee is lacking leadership or direction, that the Liaison can become more engaged with the group. (The Council does not want staff filling this void and taking on this leadership role.) I say that a more passive role is my recommendation because I think that the City Council should offer overall direction to the Commissions/Committees at annual meetings by way of approving the work plan. Finally, I think that having the Liaison become a voting member of the EDC, FPAC, and the Communications Committee is worth considering. City Council Meeting P;\Admin\Council\Agendas&Packet Information\2012\02-13-12 Wk Ses\Packet Information Page 3 of 3