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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,July 13, 2015 <br /> Page 18 <br /> Overall, Ms. McCormick thanked the City Council for their good work. <br /> Recess <br /> Mayor Roe recessed the meeting at approximately 8:01 p.m., and reconvened at approximately <br /> 8:08 p.m. <br /> c. Community Engagement and Human Rights Commission (HRC) Structure <br /> Discussion <br /> Mayor Roe referenced the RCA as the City Council considered whether or not to <br /> advertise the three current vacancies on the Human Rights Commission. <br /> City Manager Trudgeon reviewed vacancies, and parallel work being done by the <br /> CEC, providing some options for consideration. Mr. Trudgeon introduced Kari <br /> Collins, Assistant to the City Manager, and staff liaison to the HRC; noting staff <br /> liaison to the CEC, Communications Manager Garry Bowman, was also present <br /> in the audience. Mr. Trudgeon clarified that he was not advocating for any of the <br /> options; but only provided the information for the City Council to explore; and if <br /> no change was indicated at the end of those discussions, sought direction from the <br /> City Council to move forward with a future agenda action item to proceed in fill- <br /> ing the vacancies. <br /> Kari Collins,Assistant to City Manager/City Clerk and Staff Liaison to Hu- <br /> man Resources Commission (HRC) <br /> As part of this review and presentation of options, Ms. Collins advised that staff <br /> had entered into a service enterprise process and diagnostic of all volunteer oppor- <br /> tunities in the organization, including how to grow participation, how to make <br /> service meaningful. Ms. Collins noted that this came on the heels of process in <br /> assessing the overall organization and exploring the most efficient structure. <br /> As detailed in the RCA, Ms. Collins referenced the three options outlined by staff <br /> for consideration by the City Council. Ms. Collins noted this included the frustra- <br /> tions she and Mr. Bowman witness as staff liaisons to their respective advisory <br /> commissions; and parallel frustrations of commissioners who varied in their roles <br /> as "doers" versus "planners/advisors." While opining that there were opportuni- <br /> ties for either and/or both roles, Ms. Collins noted the frustrations of"doers" who <br /> desired to work toward a specific goal for their community; and interest of staff in <br /> minimizing struggles between"doing"and"discussing." <br /> Ms. Collins identified the three options outlined in the RCA and their specific ad- <br /> vantages and disadvantages; examples from other community advisory commis- <br /> sions (Cities of Falcon Heights, Arden Hills, Wayzata, and Brooklyn Park) and <br /> their community engagement efforts based on the demographics for each respec- <br /> tive community. If the City Council considered going with Option C, Ms. Collins <br /> urged them to provide greater clarify about the functions and roles; and while <br /> there are good intentions for advisory commissions to be organic, it often added to <br /> uncertainty for commissioners, subsequently leading to frustration. <br />