Open Space Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2023 05 10

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Open Space Advisory Board Minutes April 12, 2023 Page 7 of 9 Council feels like the parks are under -funded and parks are more top -of -mind than open space, but that at the task force meeting she heard about how citizens are concerned about open space maintenance. Jessamine said her request for the board is to review the packet for talking points for advocacy with friends and neighbors. Susan commented that she was struck by how the language of the ballot emphasizes open space over parks, yet parks get more of the funding. Michiko asked if the ballot language could be more like what is happening in Lafayette, where there are two separate taxes for open space and parks/recreation. Helen said that the advice from the experts at the meeting was to keep ballot language simple and not to overestimate the public's tolerance for big changes. Lafayette instituted their changes piece by piece: first they split the tax, then they made their "legacy tax" (the open space fund) permanent. Jessamine commented that the language of the ballot measure could be kept the same, but policy could change and prioritize better funding of open space. 11. Discussion Item: Updates on City Council Discussion Item on "Changes to Boards and Commissions." Presented by David Blankinship, OSAB Chair David said that a lot of what he hoped to cover in this discussion item was actually covered in the board update. He felt like the board would need to wait and see what the City Manager comes up with before it acts. Jojo asked if the board could instead be proactive, and write a letter about our preferences to Council. Ember mentioned that such a letter would have to be submitted by April 24tn The Board brainstormed reasons to keep the Open Space Advisory Board unchanged and not combined with PPLAB and/or the Recreation Board: A. OSAB meetings are already long: there seems to be plenty to do already. B. OSAB's responsibilities are set by the Home Charter. Adding too many more roles and purview would dilute the job the board can do on the tasks already designated to it. C. Parks and Open Space deal with different issues and it would stretch the board thin. When the two boards have joint meetings, there are very different points of view. Helen said that sending emissaries to other boards and creating cross -board Tiger Teams and task forces are helpful, and improving cross -board communication is always great. But this can be achieved without combining OSAB with other boards. Helen said building consensus across very different viewpoints might yield vanilla decisions. Laura said she already dedicates many hours a month for OSAB beyond the meetings, by taking and proofreading the minutes and serving on various Tiger Teams. Making the job larger by adding more duties to the board might burden people unduly and make fewer types of people able to serve. If the City is trying to increase viewpoints by improving EDI, restricting the job to board members with lots of free time might be restrictive. 9