In the first application of a formal evaluation system that was approved earlier this year, the city will make initial suggestions next month regarding the possible consolidation or elimination of a number of its commissions and advisory boards.
The findings will be presented at the Audit and Finance Committee meeting on October 15. They are predicated on a pilot study carried out by city employees during the summer, which assessed the effectiveness, applicability, and possible overlap of current boards using a novel seven-step assessment procedure. Later this fall, the City Council may consider any adjustments that the committee recommends.
The Airport Advisory Commission, Technology Commission, Economic Prosperity Commission, and MBE/WBE Small Business Enterprise Procurement Program Advisory Committee are the four active groups in the pilot, together with all advisory bodies that were previously designated as inactive.
In order to decide whether the reviewed bodies should continue, sunset, or be adjusted, staff will compile a report based on stakeholder surveys, legal assessments, and self-evaluations, per a recent message from Chief of Staff Genesis Gavino. Every report will contain a staff suggestion that will be reviewed by the committee before possibly being brought to the Council for action.
The city has also prepared a new part of the City Code that clarifies the process by which Council appoints people to intergovernmental bodies. The purpose of the law, which is set for Council adoption on August 28, is to bring those appointments into compliance with the current Council committee procedures.
The Council passed a resolution last December directing staff to review all city-affiliated boards, task forces, intergovernmental bodies, and corporations. These steps are part of a larger initiative. The resolution also demanded improvements to public transparency and language access, as well as a new sunset review procedure.
Since then, staff members have implemented a number of policy modifications to increase accessibility to commission service. The Communications and Public Information Office has established new guidelines for translation and interpretation services during commission meetings, and the Office of the City Clerk has opened a searchable archive of board recommendations from 2007.
In addition to translated documents, commissioners and the general public can now request real-time interpretation, including in American Sign Language. Additionally, departments have been provided with budgeting tools and cost estimators to facilitate language access in public communications and meetings.
The amended version of the new assessment framework was given in July after staff members reviewed it in draft form in February. Identifying the boards being reviewed, finishing legal and self-assessments, obtaining public feedback, creating a staff evaluation report, and presenting recommendations to the committee and Council are the seven official processes in the process.
The city plans to scale the framework across additional commissions in the upcoming months, according to the memo.
Long-standing worries about scope creep, duplication, and unequal participation among more than 90 advisory groups have prompted the initiative. Only 55 of those groups are officially recognized by City Code, according to a December 2024 presentation by the City Auditor, while others find it difficult to maintain quorum or offer useful policy recommendations.
There has been some opposition to early plans to combine or dissolve particular commissions. The Urban Transportation Commission said that the Bicycle and Pedestrian advisory councils offer distinct, community-driven input, therefore it rejected a staff recommendation earlier this year to include them within its jurisdiction. In addition to expressing interest in increasing speed and transparency, some commissioners and Council members have underlined the importance of preserving public access and guaranteeing that underrepresented communities continue to have a voice.
According to city employees, the new framework aims to make the process of weighing those tradeoffs more transparent and consistent. Before suggesting more significant modifications, they intend to assess the procedure’ efficacy and get input by first piloting it with a small number of commissions.
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