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Council opens review of community grants process; suggests commission study
Summary
The City Council launched a review of its community grants policy, discussing whether current recurring awards (Tacit, Crystal Judson) should be put on contract, whether the pool should be larger or limited to nonprofits, and whether a commission should craft recommendations.
City Attorney Matt Kayser told the council May 19 that the city's community grants process dates to 2008 and has run largely on autopilot. He recommended council review key elements: the total appropriation for grants, whether to prioritize "city partners," and how to handle out‑of‑cycle requests.
"Your current process drives for an open and competitive process, with a number of criterion," Kayser said, adding that council could revisit priorities and timelines and decide whether to bake in procedures for out‑of‑cycle requests.
Council members debated several options. Some favored keeping recurring community‑partner awards (Tacit and Crystal Judson) but formalizing them as service contracts rather than automatic grants. Council member McCluskey said, "To keep it more fair and inclusive, I think there should be an annual cycle review prior to the council adopting the budget," and asked that any awardees report back to council on how funds were used.
Council member Boykin recommended limiting the program to nonprofits and keeping awards modest to avoid expanding taxpayer obligations. Council member Worthington suggested treating most awards as short‑term project grants rather than ongoing funding, or else putting recurring awards under multi‑year contracts that require periodic reevaluation.
Multiple council members proposed assigning a commission to study the question and return with recommendations. Mayor Javier Figueroa said he would discuss commissions with his liaisons and return a draft resolution directing a commission or group of commissions to develop recommended changes.
Ending: Council asked staff to prepare a draft resolution that would charter a commission study of the community grants process and to return with a timeline and suggested criteria. No funding changes were adopted at the meeting.
