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Farmers Branch trustees urged to track absences after review of Ordinance 387
Summary
Board members reviewed City Ordinance 387, which states that a board member who misses more than 25% of regular meetings in any 12-month period may have their seat deemed vacated; the board clarified how the rule is calculated given a 10-meeting year.
Members of the Farmers Branch Library Advisory Board reviewed City Ordinance 387 on June 12 and clarified how the ordinance’s absence rule applies to their terms.
Ryan, staff liaison for the Farmers Branch Library, read the ordinance language that says a person shall be deemed to have vacated their position if “any person is absent from more than 25% of the regular meetings of the board commission during any period of 12 consecutive months.” He said the city deputy city secretary, Erin Flores, advised that absences should be counted from the beginning of a member’s term through the following 12 months and that the calculation “rolls over” at the start of a new term.
Board members noted the board typically meets 10 times a year (the board breaks in July and December). Under that schedule, 25% of 10 regular meetings equals 2.5 meetings; Ryan explained that the practical effect is that a third absence in a 12-month rolling period is treated as exceeding the 25% threshold.
Members asked logistics questions about how the count resets; Ryan confirmed terms run July 1 to June 30 and that the absence count begins at the start of a member’s term and then rolls forward.
The transcript records this as a clarification of ordinance language and an explanation of staff guidance; there was no separate recorded motion or formal vote to change or reinterpret Ordinance 387 during the meeting.
