Sunnyvale Revises Policy for Boards, Commissions

Sunnyvale is reducing the number of times its board and commissions meet, cutting down regular meetings from once monthly to every other month.

The Sunnyvale City Council unanimously adopted its policy amendment for commissions on Oct. 27. The change serves to clarify the advisory relationship commissioners have with the city council. It also seeks to better manage the time spent during commission meetings.

Sunnyvale commissions, according to findings from a city council subcommittee, frequently cancel meetings due to a lack of work. The Sunnyvale Arts Commission, for example, cancelled a dozen meetings over the last three years. Commissioners have also requested information from city employees that falls outside the scope of the city’s strategic goals, which the council set last summer.

“It is not a core board and commission role to become informed about things,” said City Clerk David Carnahan. “We’re trying to get boards and commissions more focused on their advisory role to city council.”

City employees say refining commissioners’ duties will allow them to complete their work with less time. The city’s planning commission is the exception; it will continue to meet twice a month. If a commission needs more time to hit a deadline, it can arrange for a special meeting.

“There’s a natural ebb and flow for most boards and commissions,” Carnahan said. “Because we won’t have rooms booked with standing meetings, there’ll be more flexibility in scheduling them when needed.”

The council also eliminated parts of its absence policy. Previously, the city would only penalize commissioners who accrued unexcused absences. Commissioners had to notify the city in advance if they were going to miss a meeting, and only certain reasons were acceptable, such as an illness or death in the family.

Now, commissioners don’t need a reason. They only need to give advanced notice. Council members, however, are requiring them to attend half of all regular meetings. The city clerk, Carnahan, would declare a commissioner’s seat empty if they miss more than half.

“The intent of the changes around absences is to make the rules clearer and more lenient,” said Sarah Johnson-Rios, Sunnyvale’s assistant city manager.

These changes went into effect when the council unanimously approved them on Oct. 27. The city, however, will allow commissions to work through the rest of this year’s work before scaling back their meetings.

Chris Ramirez is a California Local News Fellow .

Sunnyvale Revises Policy for Boards, Commissions

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