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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, January 06, 2014 Page 29 with the City's Finance Director at an Advisory Commission level, helping to vet policies and priorities as they come to the City Council for ultimate action. Councilmember Willmus spoke in support of a Finance Advisory Commission. Councilmember Etten concurred with the recommendations of Councilmembers Laliberte and Willmus; opining that it provided a great way to bring more ideas into the budget process and make it more open, including ways to make budget documents more user-friendly for the public and allow them to understand and di- gest the information and see where their tax dollars were going. While recogniz- ing that someone with professional experience may be a wise addition to the advi- sory commission, Councilmember Etten questioned if that should be a require- ment for membership, even though someone with those credentials would be a tremendous asset. Councilmember Willmus clarified that his intent was not for all members to have that background, but at least having a minority with that expertise would prove advantageous. Councilmember Etten cautioned that it may put the City Council in a corner with too few applicants if that were a requirement, while recognizing that those having such credentials could certainly receive additional considerations as applicants came forward. Councilmember McGehee concurred that it may become a non-useful advisory commission without some financial professionalism; and suggested that their charter include vetting any future developments coming before the City; specifi- cally how it impacts the City's tax structure going forward. Mayor Roe suggested starting with small, but not baby steps, and begins with an ad-hoc committee to initially look at documentation, prioritization and the process and make a recommendation to the City Council. If they feel there is a need to recommend a standalone advisory commission for Finance, they could make that recommendation to the City Council. However, if it was a simple solution to get the processes right, Mayor Roe opined that there would be nothing left for them to do. Mayor Roe also expressed his concern with timing issues if development pro- jects were vetted through a advisory commission, and would need to further con- sider that as part of the charge. Councilmember Laliberte sought consensus on the number of members, noting that most state boards required someone included that had some financial creden- tials. Mayor Roe noted language could also provide some flexibility, such as "shall" versus "should," noting the additional perspective needed for private versus pub- lic financing.