City staff presented a department-by-department inventory of boards, commissions and related external bodies and asked the City Council what next steps it wanted to take to make the system more efficient and aligned with council priorities.

Anthony (Assistant City Manager) told the council there are about 29 boards and commissions with active public appointments listed on the public application platform; 20 of them receive staff support through the Department of Community Engagement. He said the department has created a liaison structure, a member onboarding manual, an exit survey for departing members and a public dashboard that tracks vacancies and demographic data.

Why it matters: Council members said volunteer boards are an important advisory channel but raised questions about duplication of effort, inconsistent expectations and variable member support. Several council members proposed a targeted audit of board charters, the mission of each body and overlap between groups such as historical resources and a separate historic-cemeteries advisory group.

Data and staff services: Staff displayed demographic data showing the current membership and applicant pools approximate the city’s diversity for gender and age. Anthony said the Department of Community Engagement convenes liaisons bimonthly, provides a handbook and runs a small social event to foster cross-board connections. Staff also said some boards serve in a quasi-judicial role and are excluded from annual work-plan requirements.

Council directions: The mayor and several council members asked staff to provide the council with board charters, recent annual work plans, meeting schedules and a short note on which boards are statutory, which are advisory and which are externally constituted. Council members expressed interest in potential consolidation where missions overlap and in benchmarking peer cities’ approaches; staff said they would return with requested materials and comparative data.

Ending: Council did not take immediate action, but asked staff to prepare the charters and work-plan materials for a subsequent council discussion on consolidation options and clearer guidance for council liaisons and boards.