Title
Recommendation that City Council Establish a Procedure for Appointments to Regional Boards and Commissions, and Guidelines for How Appointees Reflect City Policy and City Council Directives. (Councilmember Ezzy Ashcraft)
Body
Name of Councilmember requesting referral: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft
Date of submission to City Clerk (must be submitted before 5:00 p.m. on the Monday before the Council meeting requested): April 6, 2015
Council Meeting date: April 21, 2015
Brief description of the subject to be printed on the agenda, sufficient to inform the City Council and public of the nature of the referral:
Recommendation that City Council Establish a Procedure for Appointments to Regional Boards and Commissions, and Guidelines for How Appointees Reflect City Policy and City Council Directives
While the City Charter specifies the procedure for appointing members to "internal" boards, i.e. the Public Utilities, Civil Service, Planning, Social Service Human Relations, Library and Historical Advisory Boards, (Sec. 10- 2: "Upon nomination of the Mayor, the Council shall appoint . . . one member of each such Board . . .", p. 17), it is silent on the procedure for appointing representatives to regional boards and commissions, e.g. Alameda County Transportation Commission, Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), Waste Management Authority, League of California Cities, etc. Currently, unless specifically mandated by the regional body, the Mayor makes these appointments without City Council input or oversight, unlike the procedure for appointing members to internal boards.
Nor does the City Charter address how representatives to these regional boards and commissions should represent City policy and City Council directives when voting on matters before these bodies, and how actions taken by representatives are reported to City Council and the public.
Since actions taken by regional boards and commissions can have significant implications for the City, for example, our ability to secure funding for transit improvements to alleviate traffic congestion, it is essential to establish guidelines that create City Council oversight of appointments to regional boards and commissions, and assure that a representative's votes reflect City policy and City Council directives. A procedure should also be created to inform City Council and the public of votes cast by the City's representatives to regional boards and commissions.