The City of Raleigh’s special advisory board on boards and commissions recommended on a plan to consolidate several advisory boards into larger parent boards and to report that proposal to the full City Council on July 1, with an intended implementation date of Jan. 1, 2026.

Taisha Mosley, community engagement office director, told the committee staff’s intent was to align advisory bodies with the city’s newly adopted strategic plan and to cut the overall number of standalone advisory boards. “At your last meeting, there was an ask for us to align the boards and commissions with the strategic plan,” Mosley said, adding the staff is proposing both mission alignment and changes to bylaws and appointment processes.

Committee members discussed several concrete proposals. Staff and the committee agreed to merge the Historic Cemeteries Advisory Board into the Historic Resources and Museum Advisory Board (a decision Mosley said has already been made). The committee recommended leaving the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB) and SMAC as standalone boards. Staff summarized a package of recommendations including using natural attrition where feasible to reach target board sizes, converting formerly standalone boards into standing subcommittees of a parent board, and renaming the Transit Authority to the Transit and Mobility Advisory Commission.

Council Member Branch expressed concern about preserving meaningful participation and staff capacity during consolidation, saying members who serve now may not be able to attend new meeting schedules and that “we may lose people” if changes happen too quickly. Council Member Ford urged an immediate reduction for the Human Relations Commission if it absorbed multiple groups, saying the combined membership would otherwise be unmanageably large.

On transit and mobility, staff proposed including the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC), the regional transit entity (RTA/RTA representation), and the Mayor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities into a retitled Transit and Mobility Advisory Commission and to change the Transit Authority’s bylaws and name to reflect a broader mobility role. Council discussion focused on whether subcommittees for sidewalks, paratransit, and other accessibility issues should sit under the parent transit board or continue as separate entities; Mark (a transit authority member) noted the Mayor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities addresses housing and other nontransit items and warned against narrowing its remit.

The committee also discussed appointment authority and subcommittee membership. Staff reported two implementation paths: an immediate reduction to reach target board size (members reapply and appointments are reset) or natural attrition (allow existing terms to expire). Staff said natural attrition was the preferred route where possible but recommended an immediate reduction for Human Relations if that board absorbed many groups. The committee debated whether councils should retain appointment authority for subcommittee members or let parent boards self-select subcommittee membership. After discussion, staff’s summary recommended parent boards populate standing subcommittees by self-selection from appointed parent-board members, while council would approve subcommittee charters and the overall bylaw changes.

Other procedural proposals included updating the onboarding handbook for volunteers, adding estimated hours to application forms, improving attendance tracking in the city’s board-management system, and revising the universal bylaws template to reflect council guidance. The committee asked staff to prepare a public hearing or work session in late August or September to gather community feedback before finalizing changes. Mosley said staff would return with follow-up materials and clarified recommendations for the full council.

What’s next: staff will prepare a report for City Council on July 1 presenting the consolidation proposals and proposed effective date of Jan. 1, 2026, and will schedule a public hearing or a work session in late summer to receive public comment and finalize implementation details.