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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem IV. REVIEW OF CITY BOARDS COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES - 4.25.23 A Review of City of Oshkosh Boards, Commissions, and Committees Report and Recommendations Conducted by Council Members Lynnsey Erickson and Bill Miller Compiled by John Fitzpatrick Assistant City Manager April 25, 2023 1 INTRODUCTION The city currently has twenty-four (24) boards, commissions, and committees. In response to expanded city board, commission, and committee creation over time; reduced citizen member applications; an increase in citizen member turnover; as well as an increase in cancelled meetings due to lack of quorums since 2020; the Oshkosh Common Council formed a subcommittee in Spring of 2023 comprised of Council Members Lynnsey Erickson and Bill Miller to evaluate these issues and recommend actions to the Council to improve these trends. REQUIRED BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, and COMMITTEES (BCCs) Eleven (11) city BCCs are required by state statute or are necessary because the City Council has taken an action that requires the creation of a board, (e.g., creation of a BID, maintaining a public library, adopting a redevelopment plan). The required boards and commissions are as follows: • Business Improvement District (BID) • Board of Public Works (BOPW) • Board of Zoning Appeals (BOA) • Board of Review (BOR) • Extraterritorial Zoning Committee (ETZ) • Housing Authority • Landmarks Commission • Library Board • Plan Commission • Police And Fire Commission (PFC) • Redevelopment Authority (RDA) Because of the complexity of running a city of this size, as well as the parameters required as a result of state statutes, the subcommittee chose to not focus their attention on required BCCs as part of this review. Instead, they determined that it would be most productive to direct their energy toward local option boards, commissions, and committees that have been established over time by the city. 2 LOCAL OPTION BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES The city currently has thirteen (13) optional BCCs. These 13 BCCs are not required by state law but have been established by local option for various purposes over time, and may be amended, consolidated, or eliminated at the Council's discretion. These boards are as follows: • Arts & Beautification Committee • Bike And Pedestrian Committee • Committee On Aging • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee • Equal Opportunity Housing Commission • Long-Range Finance Committee • Museum Board • Traffic & Parking Advisory Board • Parks Advisory Board • Rental Housing Committee • Storm Water Utility Appeals Board • Sustainability Advisory Board • Transit Advisory Board The Oshkosh Opera House Foundation and the Convention and Visitors Bureau Board are not facilitated by the city. As a result, city participation is discretionary and also based upon the requests of these independent boards. ANALYSIS In addition to the previously described research conducted by staff that illustrated difficulty with populating BCCs, the subcommittee thought it would be appropriate to examine the operations of the optional BCCs in greater detail in order to gain additional insights that could be used as a basis for potential recommendations. With these thoughts in mind, the subcommittee met with both the Staff Liaisons and Board Chairs of each of the optional BCCs during the months of February, March, and April. Questions posed to these groups included: • How efficient / effective has the BCC been in meeting the parameters of their charge as identified by Council? 3 • What has worked well and what hasn’t in regard to their activity? • Is this BCC still necessary and / or would it be beneficial to consider elimination and / or consolidation with another BCC, and if so which one(s)? • Assuming this BCC is still necessary / beneficial what ideas do you have to improve its effectiveness? • Is the size of your BCC conducive to achieving its goals? • What other information would you like to share with us about this project? EMERGING THEMES After conducting this research, in addition to universal appreciation for this project from those surveyed, several emerging themes became apparent to the subcommittee. These themes are as follows: • Several optional BCCs are no longer meeting the parameters of their charge and should be eliminated • Several optional BCCs are meeting the parameters of their charge but could be more efficient / effective if consolidated with an existing optional BCC • Several optional BCCs are meeting the parameters of their charge and would not be more efficient / effective if consolidated with an existing optional BCC Optional BCCs grouped according to these themes are as follows: • Optional BCCs no longer meeting the parameters of their charge and should be eliminated Committee on Aging (COA) – Based on the discussions conducted by the subcommittee, the COA’s focus has become more educational for the community than advisory over time. Dialog further indicated that members could best serve seniors by working directly with diverse resource agencies and non-profits in addition to the Seniors Center to promote resources in the community. 4 Staff may consider opportunities to continue the education this committee provided through other means, such as Oshkosh Media. With this in mind, the subcommittee recommends that the committee be eliminated. Rental Housing Advisory Board (RHAB) – Based on the discussions conducted by the subcommittee, the RHAB has not been able to fulfill its original purpose since changes to state law prevented rental registration and inspection program implementation. With this in mind, the subcommittee recommends that the committee be eliminated. Stormwater Utility Appeals Board (SWUAB) - Based on the discussions conducted by the subcommittee, this group has evolved to primarily discuss appeals. The appeals can be more expeditiously managed through the Board of Public Works (BOPW). With this in mind, the subcommittee recommends that the committee be eliminated. • Optional BCCs meeting the parameters of their charge but could be more efficient / effective if consolidated with an existing optional BCC Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC), Traffic & Parking Advisory Board (TPAB), and Transit Advisory Board (TAB) - Based on the discussions conducted by the subcommittee, these groups still meet their charge, but are fragmented. This fragmentation creates infrequent meetings, duplicative discussions and confusion among citizens in regard to where they should seek assistance. With this in mind, the subcommittee recommends that these committees be consolidated into one group and renamed the Transportation Committee (TC). Public Museum Board (PMB) and Public Arts & Beautification Committee (PABC) - Based on the discussions conducted by the subcommittee, these groups still meet their charge. However, the committee feels that both groups and the citizenry would benefit by their combined focus. With this in mind, the subcommittee recommends that these committees be consolidated into one group and renamed the Public Museum and Arts Board (PMAB). 5 • BCCs meeting the parameters of their charge and would not be more efficient / effective if consolidated with an existing optional BCC Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) Equal Opportunity Housing Commission Long-Range Finance Committee Parks Advisory Board Sustainability Advisory Board With this in mind, the subcommittee recommends that these committees not be eliminated or consolidated. These recommendations, if adopted, would reduce the current twenty-four (24) total city boards, commissions, and committees to eighteen (18) by reducing the current thirteen (13) optional city boards, commissions, and committees to seven (7). LIAISONS TO BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES Council representation on BCCs is not required by statute. Current Council Liaison assignments are the result of local ordinances passed by Council. Staff assignments to BCCs are the responsibility of the City Manager. In consideration of the subcommittees work, in consultation with staff regarding best resource matches, as well as his continuous assessment of workload balance, the City Manager’s staff assignments to the groups under consideration for consolidation have already been made. GROUP SIZE Because groups were developed over time, no uniform size for the each of the optional BCC has been established. Boards currently range from as many as nine citizen members to as few as five. The larger the group the larger the quorum required to hold the meeting and correspondingly make decisions. With this in mind, unless the Council determines that there are special circumstances involving interest in or the unique purpose of the BCC, the subcommittee recommends that a standard size of five (5) members with two (2) alternates be established for all optional BCCs. 6 FUTURE ACTIONS Since optional BCCs have been created over time in a linear fashion, and as such could not have been considered comprehensively in order to maximize efficiency and effectiveness for Council decision making and citizen experience, the subcommittee further recommends these future actions: Consider whether new BCCs should be temporary or ongoing optional BCCs Establish a five (5) year review of BCCs to determine if optional BCCs are no longer meeting the parameters of their charge and should be eliminated; If optional BCCs are meeting the parameters of their charge but could be more efficient / effective if consolidated with an existing optional BCC; And BCCs that are meeting the parameters of their charge and would not be more efficient / effective if consolidated with an existing optional BCC. SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS, & CONCLUSION In summary, this subcommittee was charged with the task of evaluating the existing city boards, commissions, and committees in order to recommend actions to address city board, commission, and committee expansion over time; reduced citizen member applications; an increase in citizen member turnover; as well as an increase in cancelled meetings due to lack of quorums since 2020. In response to this charge, the subcommittee respectfully recommends the following actions be taken by Council to address these issues: • Eliminate the Committee on Aging, Rental Housing Advisory Board, and Stormwater Utility Appeals Board. • Consolidate the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Traffic & Parking Advisory Board, and Transit Advisory Board into one group, renamed the Transportation Committee. Achieve standardized member limits through interest inquiry and attrition. • Consolidate the Public Museum Board and Public Arts & Beautification Committee into one group, renamed the Public Museum and Arts Board. Achieve standardized member limits through interest inquiry and attrition. 7 • Establish a standard size of five (5) members with two alternates for all optional boards, commissions and committees. Achieve standardized member limits through interest inquiry and attrition. • When establishing new boards, commissions and committees, carefully consider whether the group should be temporary or ongoing optional boards, commissions and committees. • Establish a five (5) year review of optional boards, commissions and committees to determine if optional boards, commissions and committees are no longer meeting the parameters of their charge and should be eliminated; if optional boards, commissions and committees are meeting the parameters of their charge but could be more efficient / effective if consolidated with an existing optional boards, commissions and committees; and optional boards, commissions and committees that are meeting the parameters of their charge and would not be more efficient / effective if consolidated with existing optional boards, commissions and committees. This review is not intended to diminish the work or value of citizen boards and commissions, but rather respect their purpose. Correspondingly, it is our hope that the options outlined for consideration in this report will provide the proper structures necessary to efficiently, effectively, and comprehensively consider the issues that impact our community now and into the future.