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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,January 07, 2013 Page 15 Councilmember Willmus advised that he would support looking at that as an Ad- visory Commission, as he had suggested in the past; and expressed interest in ex- ploring an Advisory Budget Commission. Mayor Roe noted that this may tie into something being considered in an upcom- ing discussion; and noted that a City Council Subcommittee was also open to work with community experts as well as a formal advisory commission would be, but without the appointment/interview process. Mayor Roe suggested that a trial subcommittee be instituted first, encouraging as much public participation as the subcommittee chose, as a starting point. Mayor Roe recognized the good points made by Councilmember Etten of how exhaustive the list of responsibilities was at this time; however, he anticipated that the list would become shorter as part of the process of review and would eventually not require wholesale revisions of documents and processes once the initial review and recommendations were ac- complished. Mayor Roe noted that the overall goal is to improve the process and documents to benefit the understanding of individual Councilmembers and the general public. Councilmember McGehee concurred with Mayor Roe, to allow the Subcommittee to reach out to the public and perform serious research, after which a formal advi- sory commission could be put in place if needed. Councilmember Etten explained his rationale in suggesting an advisory commis- sion was to provide a formalized process and commitment from a group thorough- ly vetted by the City Council body versus individuals who may not have an in depth understanding of city budgets and statutory requirements, and how and why things happen in that budget process. Councilmember Etten advised that he con- tinued to support an advisory commission— now or later—to remain open to the community and hopefully allow them to better understand the process of public finance in local government settings. Mayor Roe recognized Councilmember Etten's rationale. Councilmember McGehee concurred with Councilmember Etten's approach; but suggested the City's use of other technological media vehicles as available to en- courage participation. Councilmember McGehee opined that there were signifi- cant resources in the community who were unable to commit to a long-term commission appointment, but would be available to brainstorm with a Subcom- mittee on finance and budget issues. Councilmember Laliberte opined that there was value in both comments; and the overarching issue was for the City to reconsider how it engaged people in the pro- cess. However, Councilmember Laliberte does not believe any of that replaces the need for the City to have two (2) Councilmembers on the Subcommittee and to formalize the thought process for that engagement.