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Councilmember Pearson stated that he thought it was important that the City provide an <br />orientation to any new board or commission members. <br /> <br />Councilmember Kurak stated that educating new members on what has been occurring on the <br />Commission and an explanation of some of the common terms used by the commission would be <br />beneficial. <br /> <br />Counci hnember Cook stated that it would be nice to have an orientation for any new members to <br />explain some of the policy issues. <br /> <br />Human Resources Manager Reed replied that a staff liaison member would probably have to <br />handle the orientation. <br /> <br />Councihnernber Cook stated that any new member should be given a packet of information <br />including some of the City's polices and explanation of some of the issues the board or <br />commission is working on. <br /> <br />f-lmnan Resources Manager Reed explained that the current policy for appointing board and <br />commission members states that commission members whose terms are expiring will be invited <br />to rcapply by completing and submitting a letter of interest. The policy further states that letters <br />of interest will be forwarded to the evaluation (interview) panel for review with the group of new <br />applicants. Staff interprets this to mean that all vacancies are advertised, even when a <br />commission wishes to reapply, and the commissioner's letter of interest is considered along with <br />the letters of interest of other applicants. As recently as January 2003, two commissioners were <br />reappointed using a different process. In January 2003, the commissioners whose te~xns expired <br />December 2002 were invited to reapply and their letters of interest were forwarded to the City <br />Council with a recommendation for appointment. The vacancies that were created with the <br />December 2002 term expirations were not advertised as the current policy suggests that they <br />should have been. Staff was seeking direction regarding how reappointments should be handled. <br /> <br />Councilmember Cook stated that it is their job to make tough decisions as Councilmembers and <br />any person who is currently serving on a board or commission should be given the first priority to <br />be reappointed. If there is an issue with a member where the Council did not feel comfortable <br />with a rcappointrnent, the Council could inform the individual of their decision. He stated that <br />he did not like that the policy was changed simply because of certain circumstances that existed <br />at the time. <br /> <br />Councihnen]ber Pearson agreed that if they have good members serving and they want to <br />continuc serving on a board or commission he would like to keep them. <br /> <br />Human Resources Manager Reed inquired if the Committee was recommending that the policy <br />require that any current board or commission member whose term is expiring would submit a <br />letter of interest for reappointment and the Council would either agree or disagree with the <br />reappointment. If a reappointment is not made then they will advertise the vacancy. <br /> <br />Personnel Committee/November 25, 2003 <br /> Page 4 of 7 <br /> <br /> <br />