Committee reviews draft bylaws for equity abatement panel, outlines membership and meeting rules

County staff presented a draft set of bylaws for a proposed Equity Abatement Committee and asked the opioid committee members to review the document and bring suggested changes to the next meeting.

Speaker 2, staff member, summarized the proposed composition: five county commissioners, the county sheriff, one county resident, one member of the recovery community and a new slot intended for a Sumner County resident in the medical or health field to provide clinical insight on opioid and drug use. Staff described terms for elected officials as coterminous with officeholders and said resident members would serve for a minimum of two grant cycles.

The draft establishes duties for members, requires minutes and sets voting rules; staff said votes would be recorded as yes or no and that sustained votes would require documented reasons. The bylaws call for quarterly meetings, two additional meetings focused on grant applications and scoring, and permit the chair to call special meetings with 72 hours’ notice. The draft also adds an annual training requirement for members and refers to Robert’s Rules of Order for meeting procedure.

Speaker 2 said the finance department was proposed to take minutes and the legal department would provide opinions with 24–72 hours’ notice for matters requiring counsel. The speaker asked committee members to submit edits and indicated staff will prepare a final document for consideration at the next meeting.

Ending: Committee members were asked to review the draft bylaws and submit suggested revisions before the next scheduled meeting.