2020.01.14 WS Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

NEW BRIGHTON uildinq tomorrow today Council Worksession January 14, 2020 5:00 pm Present: Mayor Valerie Johnson Councilmember Graeme Allen Councilmember Mary Burg Councilmember Paul Jacobsen Absent: Councilmember Emily Dunsworth Staff in Attendance: Devin Massopust Guests in Attendance: Commissions and Hiring Process Massopust provided the Council with a list of current Commissioners and noted which Commissioners seats would be open in April of 2020. He commented on the function of the Commissions and understood the Council wanted to discuss how the better utilize the Commissions, along with how the Chair's were appointed. Mayor Johnson reported this was an item Councilmember Dunsworth wanted to address and noted she had a conversation with Councilmember Dunsworth regarding this matter. She believed that now would be a great time for the Council to evaluate the effectiveness of each of the City's four Commissions. She explained Commission interviews would be held in February and March. She reviewed some of the feedback she has received from Commission members noting they wished they had more of a voice or opportunity to provide the City Council with feedback. It was her hope the Council could evaluate the role of each Commission in order to provide Commission members with more clear direction for 2020. She noted one concern she had was the fact the Public Safety Commission had six openings. Councilmember Burg questioned how this happened. Massopust noted there were several changes made to this Commission in 2017. He explained staff would be working in 2020 to ensure the terms of the new members were properly staggered. Councilmember Jacobsen commented on the important work being done by the City's Commissions. He understood some of the work being done was presentation based. Councilmember Burg stated the Council could work to better train the chairs to ensure they were allowing all members to speak up. It was her hope that not all groups would be perceived as being so formal that members could not offer an opinion. Mayor Johnson suggested the PREC meetings be moved into the conference room in order to reduce some of the meetings formality. She noted the audio and visual within the conference room was very good. The Council supported this recommendation. Councilmember Jacobsen asked if the Council would support allowing public comment at all Commission meetings.