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Laredo city manager urges stronger use of citizen advisory boards, clarifies liaison roles
Summary
City Manager Joe Nebb told roughly 400 volunteer board and commission members that the city will increase support, expects regular meetings and wants staff liaisons to remain neutral while providing timely information to advisory bodies.
City Manager Joe Nebb opened a city-run training session for Laredo citizen board, commission and committee members, telling attendees the city wants to make better use of volunteer advisory groups and will provide more support to help those groups influence council decisions.
Nebb said the city has “approximately 400 citizens on all of our boards and commissions and committees,” and described the city manager’s office as a translator between elected leaders, staff and volunteers. He told attendees the city manager’s office and assistant city managers act as a single team for advisory groups and that department staff liaisons are the boards’ primary operational contacts.
Nebb said staff liaisons should “ensure compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act” and provide background and technical support but should not steer committee recommendations. He urged members to submit requests for information through their designated liaison, warned against bypassing established channels and asked that committees meet regularly so volunteers do not become discouraged by long gaps between actions.
Mayor Dr. Trevino, who also addressed the group, thanked volunteers for their service and said he is “proposing revamping the committee process by allowing them to be live streamed and incentivized people to participate in city government.”
Why it matters: Laredo’s advisory bodies are intended to feed community input and technical expertise into city policymaking. The city manager framed improved liaison support, clearer processes and more frequent meetings as ways to increase the influence and effectiveness of volunteer members.
Supporting details: Nebb reviewed the roles of elected official liaisons, saying those elected should “promote transparency” and share council priorities but not “influence your decisions.” He recommended committees focus on policy recommendations rather than day-to-day operations and asked members to present well-formulated, data-backed proposals to improve the chance of adoption.
The training included reminders that requests routed through liaisons generally move faster, that departmental responses will respect neutrality and that the city will help resolve problems if a liaison is not providing needed information. Nebb said the council’s directives carry greater weight than individual inquiries and encouraged advisory groups to coordinate requests before submitting them to staff.
Ending: Staff said training materials will be posted on the city secretary’s website. The city manager and mayor both said the council will continue to review committee structures and that any changes to terms, livestreaming or other procedures will be addressed through council actions.
