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Home My WebLink AboutMinutes - Government Review Task Force - 10/23/2000 TOWN OF ORO VALLEY GOVERNMENT REVIEW TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 23, 2000 • The ninth Government Review Task Force meeting was called to order by Chairman Loomis at 4:34 p.m. • ATTENDANCE: • Chairman Paul Loomis • Kathi Cuvelier • Vice-Chairman Jim Kriegh • Dan Dudley (arrived at 5:09 p.m.) • Susan Baczkiewicz • Don Dvorak (excused at 5:00 p.m.) • Richard Feinberg • Larry Holden • Marilyn Cook (absent) • APPROVAL, OF MINUTES. Don Dvorak motioned for approval of the October 9, 2000 Regular meeting minutes with a minor typographical correction. Seconded by Richard Feinberg. Motion carried 4-0. • APPOINTMENT TO BOARDS/COMMISSIONS. Chairman Loomis opened the discussion with an introduction of Council Member Dick Johnson, and explained that Council Member Werner Wolff and Vice-Mayor Fran LaSala will also present their opinions on the subject of appointments to Boards/Commissions. • Council Member Johnson presented his opinions as follows: 1) REQUIREMENTS - there should be a reasonable residency requirement for anyone to serve on a Board/Commission, which may be 1 year. Also, it should be mandatory to have a member complete the Citizens Planning Institute prior to serving on the P/Z Commission or DRB. 2) REPRESENTATION - there should be a broad brush of representation including gender, expertise, and `geography' because deliberations require diversity for sound expert decisions. 3) DURATION - task forces or special advisory boards should have a limited existence in order to encourage a sense of urgency for the task at hand, and may be granted a continued term by the Council if necessary. 4) TERM - a term of office should be a 4-year, staggered term, unless the individual is not performing well. 5) CHAIRMAN - the Chairman should be selected from among the membership, and a `rotating' Chairman may not be a good idea since running a meeting effectively is an art form. 6) ROLE - the Board/Commission should have a well-defined function. F:\Susan\Govt Task Force\Minutes 102300 7) EVALUATION - an evaluation or review of a member's performance should be necessary and it should be the responsibility of the Chairman of the Board to inform the member at 3 months of any lacking areas of performance (prepared for meetings, knowledge of subject, etc). If such behavior is not corrected, the Council Liaison should inform the member that termination might be a consideration. Notification of a member's termination should be in writing and sent by mail. The Council Liaison should not be involved in the evaluation process since it is his role to only relay how the Board/Commission is functioning to the Council. 8) SELECTION — advertising for a position is appropriate and the selection committee should be made up of the Chairman of the Board, the affected Department Head, and a Board or staff member, along with an individual in/retired from the profession, and a representative from a similar Board/Commission from a surrounding municipality. The Council Liaison and Mayor should be excluded from the selection committee, and the selection should be made from a condensed list of interested parties to limit the number of interviews. 9) CONFLICTS - the appearance of a conflict of interest of an interested party may be noticed at the application/interview process, which would be a deciding factor in selection. • Council Member Wolff presented his opinions as follows: 1) REQUIREMENTS —there should be specific parameters in order to serve on a Board/Commission, such as a certain timeframe for residency which should clue the member in on the `flavor' of the Town. 2) SELECTION — the selection committee should include the Chairman of the Board, the affected Department Head, and 2 Council Members, however the Council Members should not serve on the Board/ Commission. 3) TERMS — the term of office should be a 2-year term (maximum of 4 years served), and an automatic extension may be considered after the first 2-year term provided the member's evaluations have been good. 4) EVALUATION — an evaluation of a member's performance should be conducted every 6 months by the Chairman of the Board, the Vice- Chairman, and the Council Liaison. The member should be informed at 6 months, and if any ill behavior has not been corrected then the Council Liaison should provide notice that a replacement will be sought. A citizen questionnaire to aid in evaluation of a member may not be fair due to the infrequent attendance of most citizens at such Board/Commission meetings, however, citizens are not prohibited from sending a letter to the Mayor to inform him of a member who may not be appropriate on a certain Board/Commission. F:\Susan\Govt Task Force\Minutes 102300 2 • Vice-Mayor Fran LaSala presented his opinions and noted that the current procedures have the appearance of fairness, but are indeed unfair. 1) SELECTION - advertising for a position is appropriate and selection of a member should be made by a Council Member who may either personally recruit an applicant or interview from a pool of applications. This individual selected would then be the direct responsibility of the Council Member. The Vice-Mayor is of the mindset that if the Town has elected a responsible Council Member, then their Board/ Commission appointee will also be responsible. If the Board/ Commission has 7 members, then the Town Manager could recruit/interview 1 member and the Mayor could recruit/interview 2 members. All appointments then would go before Council for final approval. 2) TERM — the term of office would be consistent with the term of the office of the Council Member. 3) REQUIREMENTS — it should be mandatory to have a member complete the Citizens Planning Institute prior to serving on the P/Z Commission or DRB. Also, residency should not be necessary if, for example, a retired Fire Chief from IL wants to be considered for the Fire Advisory Board. 4) EVALUATION — evaluation of a member should be conducted by the responsible Council Member. 5) ROLE — the Human Resources department should not be responsible for creating specific job descriptions of the various Boards/Commission because the volunteers on these Boards should not be treated as if they have a 'job' nor should they be treated as `employees.' It may be more appropriate for the affected Department Head to write a description of the Board/Commission's role. • Chairman Loomis opened the discussion to Bill Adler, a member of the public in attendance, of which his opinion is that the prospective member must demonstrate a local track record of interest in the Board/ Commission. Mr. Adler is a member of the BOA and CVAP, and was a former member of the DRB and P&Z Commission. • Chairman Loomis opened the discussion to Henry Suozzi, a member of the public in attendance, to present his opinion on the subject of appointments to Boards/Commissions. Mr. Suozzi believes the Town needs to have clear objectives regarding 1) recruitment of volunteers; 2) selection of volunteers; 3) placement of volunteers in the appropriate Board/Commission; 4) retention of the volunteer in a satisfactory position; and 5) directing the selection committee to address poor service and/or inactivity. Mr. Suozzi is a member of the BOA and the Library Committee, and also known as the Town `historian.' 1) EVALUATION — evaluation of members is important, especially if a member wants to be considered for re-appointment, There should be a probationary period where the member is directed in the areas that may need improvement. F:\Susan\Govt Task Force\Minutes 102300 3 2) TERM - the term of office should be a 2-year term (maximum of 4 years served), and an automatic extension may be considered after the first 2-year term provided the member's evaluations have been good. 3) REQUIREMENTS — there should be a residency requirement for anyone to serve on a Board/Commission of 1+ years. Also, it should be mandatory to have a member complete the Citizens Planning Institute prior to serving on the P/Z Commission or DRB. • DISTRICTING • Chairman Loomis stated that the GTF should present a report to the Mayor and Council in the form of a Council Communication. It should include the PROs/CONs matrix and a description of the new laws concerning Districting, along with the recommendation that Districting should not be considered at this time but rather table the Districting concept for Oro Valley at a later date. A draft Council Communication shall be considered at the next regularly scheduled meeting, November 13, 2000, which would allow this action to be brought before the Council by December 6, 2000. • Chairman Loomis opened the discussion to Bill Adler, a member of the public in attendance, to present his opinion on the subject of districting of which is that because the Town residents show differences in opinions, then perhaps a distinction by geographical areas would be essential to have all of the varied interests heard. • COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP. • Chairman Loomis opened this item for discussion in reference to the type of report to be brought before Council, which should include the PROs/CONs matrix and a legislative history concerning the increase of Council Membership from five (5) to seven (7) members. Richard Feinberg thought that the GTF was a fair representation of the Town and was confident that the GTF could prepare a report for the Council to review before making a decision concerning increased Council membership. • Town Attorney Dan Dudley advised the GTF that the Town could not return to a 5-Member Council if the decision was made to go to a 7- Member Council and found that it was not suitable for the Town, because there is no process in place to allow the Town to return to a 5-Member Council once elected to a 7-Member Council. • NEW BUSINESS. The term of the GTF has been extended for six (6) months ending April 30, 2001. • NEXT MEETING. Chairman Loomis declared a Special Meeting for Monday, �►O r �� ::: : ft� to discuss the Council Policies/Procedures in light of the format used by the City of Goodyear. Our ............................................................... next....regularly scheduled meeting will be Monday, November - at ........... ............ ........... ............. 4 j The upcoming agenda for the regular GTF meeting will cover the following: F:\Susan\Govt Task Force\Minutes 102300 4 • Approval of Minutes • Review of the report to be presented to the Mayor and Council concerning Districting • Review of the report to be presented to the Mayor and Council concerning increased Council membership from 5-Members to 7-Members. • New Business • Discussion of Next Meeting/Agenda • ADJOURNMENT. Larry Holden moved to adjourn at 7:16 p.m. Richard Feinberg seconded the Motion. Motioned carried 3-0. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, TOWN OF ORO VALLEY w us n I. Baczkiewicz jFki:"j-7 Civil Paralegal F:\Susan\Govt Task Force\Minutes 102300 5