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Roseville City Council Page 3 of 6 With the possible exception of the Civil Service Commission, whose work is governed by state law, I suggest standardizing the size of standing citizen advi- sory commissions at 7 members. I further suggest allowing attrition to reduce the size of commissions larger than 7 members (i.e., the Human Rights Com- mission and the Parks & Recreation Commission). Reasons: Seven members on each commission seems to be a large enough number to provide citizens with a good opportunity to serve their community, yet not be so large as to be unwieldy, or to dilute the value of each member's views, or to suggest that some commissions are more important than others because they have more members than other commissions. 3. Reevaluate the Roles and Responsibilities of Existin� Commissions Before Creatin� New Commissions. A. Instead of Creating a Separate Environmental Commission, Expand the Role of the Public Works and Transportation Commission to In- clude Environmental Issues. Rather than create an entirely new commission, I recommend that the Public Works and Transportation Commission take on formal responsibility for envi- ronmental issues. A conforming name change would result in the Public Works, Environment, and Transportation Commission. Since this Commission currently has only 5 members, if it were enlar�ed to seven members - the standard number recommended above - there would be an opportunity to appoint two new members with environmental training or experien.ce. I recommend that the City Code be amended to require that at least one Commissioner be required to have a background or demonstrated in- terest in an environmental field. Reasons: . A separate environmental commission would be expensive to staff. (See discussion in Attachment 3.) . A separate environmental commission would be difficult to integrate with the work of other citizen commissions. . The existing Public Works and Transportation Commission is not over- whelmed with issues; it can take on environmental issues without un- duly taxing current citizen commissioners or staff. . Environmental issues cut across many areas of city service - including Pa.rks and Recreation as well a s Community Development and Planning. But I think it is accurate to say that most environmental issues eventu- ally touch upon engineering and transportation subjects that are the fo- cus of the Public Works and Transportation Commission's mission and that fall within the engineering and scientific expertise of the staff as- signed to that Commission.