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FOLLOWUP ON COMMISSION APPOINTMENT PROCESS <br /> By: Linda Waite Smith, Administrative Services Manager <br /> <br />Background: <br /> <br />On April 9, 1996, I presented to the City Council a report and recommendations about the <br />process used to select members of City commissions, including Planning, Economic <br />Development, Park & Recreation, and Charter. In response to my report, the Council asked me <br />to visit each commission to gather additional information about qualifications we should seek in <br />commission applicants and ways we could improve the recruitment of applicants. <br /> <br />Original Report Recommendations: <br /> <br />1. Commissions should be allowed to continue interviewing applicants, using a process to be <br />jointly developed by the Administrative Services Manager and the commission chairs. <br /> <br />2. Each commission should agree on the most important qualifications for members of their <br />commissions and applicants should be compared on the basis of those qualifications. <br /> <br />3. Commissions should remain at their current sizes. <br /> <br />4. Commissions should not have term limits, but when terms expire, incumbents should apply for <br />reappointmentand be interviewed, along with other candidates. <br /> <br />5. People should not be allowed to serve on more than one commission simultaneously. <br /> <br />6. The Administrative Services Manager should work with the City Council and the commissions <br />to improve the recruitment process for commission candidates. <br /> <br />Additional Information <br /> <br />After visiting:with the commissions, I listed applicant characteristics that were important to all of <br />them (see page two). Then I composed a series of questions designed to elicit information about <br />those characteristics ( see page three). <br /> <br />Recruitment Ideas <br /> <br />The most common suggestion for improving recruitment of commissioners was to provide more <br />detailed information about the particular commission's activities. Other ideas included providing <br />a job description and a list of times commission meetings could be attended or seen on cable <br />television. Advertisements should be posted on public bulletin boards, broadcast on cable, and <br />sent to civici organizations as well as appearing in the Ramsey Resident. Finally, several people <br />suggested ttlat we design on orientation process for new commissioners. <br /> <br /> <br />