City Council Minutes 2016 09 20 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes September 20, 2016 Page 6 of 11 Councilmember Keany noted he sees some benefit to having more turn over, but that can happen without term limits if Council would have the fortitude to not reappoint people when it is appropriate. On the other hand, there are times when there are not enough applicants for some boards and frequently the Council has appointed people to a board to which they did not apply and that has not turned out well. Councilmember Keany sees benefit to both arguments. Perhaps the Council needs to make more conscious decisions at reappointment time, if we are not willing to do that, term limits will force our hands. He stated the Youth Advisory Board should be excluded as they can serve from 7- 12 grade and should be allowed to serve that entire time if they are interested, but this makes the Council pick and choose to which boards it applies and that is messy. Perhaps the Council should put off this discussion for a year and see how the next appointment process goes. We should appoint the best people for the job not just people who are already serving. English Hopkins, 855 West Dillon Road, on the Parks and Public Landscaping Board, stated one advantage to having term limits is it creates a sense of urgency for the member to focus on their participation and contribute to the board. John Leary, 1116 LaFarge Avenue, stated he has sat in on many board interviews and he thinks incumbency is weighted much higher than the qualifications of those who apply. Council does not have a history of making tough decisions when needed. Mayor Pro Tem Lipton stated his experience is that members work hard to do their best for the community. He was not reappointed to the Planning Commission once for political reasons and it was hurtful. He knows that for those who are not reappointed it can be a difficult experience, but he stated automatic removal from a board is a loss of a great resource. He stated he agreed with arguments on both sides and sees strengths and weaknesses. He wonders what the unintended consequences might be. He noted future Councils can change this if the process is not working. He stated we do need more turnover for certain boards, but this may not be the best way to do this. He agreed incumbents have gotten preference from the Council in the reappointment process. Councilmember Leh added he thinks this is a solution in search of a problem. The answer to this is already in Council's hands. This discussion alone will pressure the Council to think more actively about who is appointed and who might bring something new to a board. The Council can do everything that is proposed without the ordinance, but can't do everything we do now if term limits apply. Future Councils can impose this if we aren't doing a good job. Councilmember Leh noted many residents on boards have been here much longer than staff members and are the institutional knowledge. He added no one serves in perpetuity unless Council allows it. He stated the City gets a lot of applications each year and it is up to Council to get the appropriate turn over on the boards.