The same item also proposed to give the Mayor the power to remove Advisory Commissioner(s) without publicly stating any reason with Council majority voted approval, effectively indicating that the Mayor had approved the proposed changes as agendized although they were publicly attributed to city management.

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LBREPORT.com was the only LB news outlet that alerted to our readers to details of the item, which triggered push-back (opposition emails/social network comments) from some residents leading up to the Council meeting. Among those in the Council Chamber prepared to speak in opposition to the item were former 5th district Council candidate Corliss Lee and veteran community activist Ann Cantrell.

The item was number 27 on the agenda...and near the start of the Council meeting, Mayor Garcia stated: "Items 25 and 26 are going to be postponed...and also item 27 which is more of a technical report from city management on commissions as they relate to the way they operate. I've asked staff to please bring that back at a later date once they do a little bit more outreach with both Councilmembrs as well as some of the Commissioners and Commissions and so that will be my request..."

Mayor Garcia's upcoming discussions with Councilmembers and his chosen Advisory Commissioners will now presumably seek to line up support before bringing the item back to the Council. Pulling the item off the July 10 agenda effectively avoided any public discussion of the matter for now.

As visible in the memo agendized here, it wasn't exactly a "technical report" portrayed by Mayor Garcia. It explicitly requested Council voted approval to draft rules that would limit the topics Council-created Advisory Commissions could agendize for discussion and voted actions...and gave the Mayor and Council the ability to easily remove any Advisory Commissioners who attempted to offer advice that the Mayor/Council or management didn't want to hear.

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The accompanying agendizing memo portrayed the changes as clarifying efficiency measures:

[B]oth the [advisory] bodies and the City Council have recently expressed some confusion about the bodies' roles and responsibilities, including best practices for how bodies should operate, transmit ideas to the City Council, and set agendas. Moreover, a lack of clearly identifiable roles and guidelines have prevented the bodies from operating in an effective and efficient manner. In response, the Offices of the Mayor, City Manager, and the City Attorney have discussed various options to enhance the delivery of services by the bodies, and determined that amending key sections of the LBMC pertaining to the bodies would significantly improve how the bodies operate with the City Council and City staff.

The proposed changes will enable members of the bodies to better understand their roles and responsibilities, allow City staff to better support the bodies through defined operating procedures, and provide guidelines for communicating input to the Mayor and the City Council. Specific changes will clearly address defining the duties and functions of advisory bodies, identifying the City staff responsible for setting the advisory bodies' agendas, clarifying the permissible uses of City staff resources, and clarifying authority over City officers and employees. The intention is to strengthen the impact and effectiveness of the City's advisory bodies, and make the work more efficient and productive.

Developing.

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