Minutes - Council - 03/14/2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Human Resources Manager Reed reviewed that at the City Council meeting on February 28, 2006, the Personnel Committee discussed proposed amendments to the Policy for Appointing Board and Commission Members. She reviewed the following proposed amendments: · Reappointments to boards and commissions would be handled in the same manner as new appointments. This would entail having the chair and vice-chair of each commission meet with the Personnel Committee to discuss applications for reappointment. · Each member of the evaluation panel would have one vote each which would eliminate the possibility of a tie. The result would be one recommendation to the City Council for reappointment or denial. Currently, the chair and vice chair of each board or commission has 1.5 votes and members of the Personnel Committee have one vote each. · Eliminate term limits so the City is not forced to remove good commissioners once they have served ten years. Commissioners are currently allowed to serve a partial term (two years or less) and two four-year terms. If it is determined to eliminate term limits, at the next Personnel Committee meeting staff will bring forward an ordinance repealing the section of the City Code that deals with term limits. · In situations where there are performance issues and the evaluation panel may not wish to reappoint, the Personnel Committee would like to hold closed meetings to discuss performance. Under the current policy, performance issues would be discussed in an open meeting. Staff has discussed the matter of closed meetings with the City Attorney and he has advised that closed meetings to discuss the performance of board and commission members are not provided for in statute. Councilmember Strommen returned to the meeting at 8:51 p.m. Mayor Gamec noted the major change is the elimination of term limits. Councilmember Pearson stated he feels a board member should be able to continue serving as long as they are doing a good job. Councilmember Cook stated it is much better to revise how reappointments are done than to require term limits. The idea of meeting with the Personnel Committee regarding appointments is to work out differences between the chair and vice chair and the Personnel Committee, and to have a better flow of communication. This will also ensure one recommendation to the Council. Changing the chair and vice chair votes from 1.5 to I will eliminate the possibility of a deadlock. The main thing these changes will do is allow a dialogue between the Personnel Committee, the chair and vice chair, and receive input from the Council. Councilmember Elvig returned to the meeting at 8:53 p.m. Motion by Councilmember Cook, seconded by Councilmember Pearson, to ratify the recommendation of the Personnel Committee in Case No. 2 to adopt Resolution #06-03-085 amending the Policy for Appointing Board and Commission Members. City Council / March 14, 2006 Page 18 of 25