BRC to draft living strategic plan and bylaws; tables request to ask mayor for new members

The Board/Advisory Committee on Disabilities agreed to develop a “living” strategic plan and to prepare formal bylaws that will guide membership, attendance and decision procedures before bringing a formal request to the mayor to add new regular members.

Committee members emphasized the need for clarity about mission, membership size and legal protections. One member summarized the need for a focused plan and periodic follow-up: “We need to have focus. We need to have, for example, a mission statement. What is it that…are our goals for the year?” Staff proposed creating a shareable document (a cloud-based draft) so members could collaborate between meetings.

A separate agenda item invited discussion of adding frequent attendees as formal committee members; the transcript shows members raised concerns about a larger membership’s administrative burden and possible legal exposure if a selection process was not clearly documented. The committee moved to table the request to formally ask the mayor to consider prospective members until bylaws and membership rules are drafted and reviewed with city legal staff.

Why it matters: Formal bylaws would provide a clear membership process, reduce legal risk and give the committee a defined way to track and follow up on initiatives such as training, outreach and accessibility projects. Members said codifying old-business tracking and an ongoing follow-up item on each agenda would help avoid dropped initiatives.

Next steps: Staff will prepare a draft bylaws document and a shareable strategic-plan shell for committee input; the item to request mayoral action on new members remains tabled until the bylaws are ready and reviewed.