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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,May 15, 2023 <br /> Page 5 <br /> word `responsibility' somewhere, not because she felt that the Commissions are <br /> lacking but if the Commissions see there is a greater purpose or something in what <br /> the Commission is doing and how it impacts what the Council does, it would help <br /> the Commissions to find their purpose. <br /> Councilmember Etten asked if Councilmember Strahan could expand on <br /> `responsibility'. <br /> Councilmember Strahan explained the Council is asking the Commissioners to be <br /> ambassadors and for them to have some level of responsibility. She thought that <br /> had come up in a couple of Commissions where the Commissioners were seeking <br /> how to define responsibility, how to define commitment, because there have been <br /> struggles on the Commissions with having people. She did not think it had to be <br /> hard and fast where it was punitive or negative but maybe seeing more as kind of <br /> elevating it like the Council trusts and respects and need the Commissioners' <br /> opinion and expertise. She certainly, when she can, takes the Commission's <br /> recommendations very seriously. Also in seeing there is a responsibility to really <br /> know the topic and know what impact they can have. She thought it was nice to <br /> keep it positive. <br /> Mayor Roe thought a part of that comes out of the fact that the Commissioners are <br /> going to be invested in these changes and updates and will hopefully create more <br /> engagement in that sense. He did like the bullet points and does talk about an <br /> aspirational way that might be added to the scope of these functions to better serve <br /> the community, which gets to some of that too. <br /> Councilmember Etten explained he appreciated the point under responsibility. He <br /> thought that was somewhat part of the commissioner training program that is <br /> becoming more clarified and structured. He would defer to staff to speak, whether <br /> now or in the near future, if that is something to make sure responsibility is a part <br /> of the training. <br /> Mr. Trudgeon explained the City staff does provide training to new Commissioners <br /> and has a booklet to give them that talks about a lot of different things. One of the <br /> things is responsibility, that the Commissioner is an ambassador, and this is a <br /> professional standing and looking for recommendations. It is not enumerated in <br /> the Code but is something that is talked about and tried to drive home to them that <br /> this is not a social club. The Commissions have some serious responsibilities and <br /> he thought that has been effective. <br /> Councilmember Strahan was curious to know if City Attorney Tierney has had <br /> experience with looking at what kind of expectations other cities have. <br /> City Attorney Tierney explained she cannot say that she has dug really deep into <br /> the job descriptions of Commissions. Her guess is that they are all over the board, <br />