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Friendship Heights council dissolves two committees, creates 'Policies and Procedures' panel and names members
Summary
The council voted to dissolve the personnel and communications committees, create a Policies and Procedures council committee, and appointed members to that and several citizens advisory committees, including a new shuttle advisory committee and reappointments to the climate and environment advisory group.
Friendship Heights Village Council members voted June 9 to dissolve two standing council committees and establish a new council committee named Policies and Procedures, then approved council and citizen appointments to several advisory groups.
The council voted to permanently dissolve the personnel committee and the communications committee, and then established a Policies and Procedures council committee “to support the efficient operation and administration of village policies consistent with the requirements of good government practices and all applicable laws and regulations.” The motion to create the new committee was made under the council’s bylaws and recorded as unanimous.
The council appointed Council member Vic Basil as chair of the new Policies and Procedures committee and named Council members Martha Sult and Francine Klein as committee members. During discussion several council members emphasized the goal of reducing the number of meetings and staff burden and asked for a committee name that would avoid creating a gray area about administrative authority; the council agreed to the Policies and Procedures name after brief suggestions.
Separately, the council reappointed four people to the Citizen Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Environment: Evan Brown, Emmanuel Da Silva, Inas El Saban and Andre Miller. The council also created a new Shuttle Bus Advisory Committee to advise the village on shuttle stops, schedule changes and contract compliance; the initial citizen appointments read into the record included Shirley Carr, Ines El Saban, Allen Evans, Louisa Klein, Charles Schwartz, Sandra Schwartzbart and Melanie White, with Allison Ault also listed as a participant. The council said the shuttle committee will monitor a new shuttle contract starting July 1 and will advise on potential stop changes, including suggestions raised by residents for a library stop.
On citizen engagement, the mayor said he had cast a wider net for nominees to the Community Advisory Committee and increased the proposed membership to 13 after receiving 21 applicants; the council approved the mayor’s 13 nominees unanimously. The mayor explained he sought representation from residents with young children and other underrepresented perspectives when assembling the list. The 13 approved nominees included returning members (Paul Brown, David Churchill, Stephanie Clipper, Cameron Moody and Evan Smith) and new members (Daniel R., Akriti Atzana, Santan Basu, Kathleen McGinnis, Arthur Perry, Robert Siesenwein, Tyra Walker and Wendy We Chang).
Council members noted the citizens committees remain open to additional applicants; residents were told to submit statements of interest to the village email to be considered for future openings.
