Council amends municipal code to give advisory boards and commissions minimum presentation time for annual reports

The Moreno Valley City Council on Sept. 2 approved an ordinance amending Chapter 2.2 of the municipal code to change how advisory-board and commission annual reports are presented to council.

City Clerk Patty Rodriguez explained the ordinance would require each board or commission to submit its annual report to the city clerk after commission approval and have the report placed on a future city council general-business agenda, with the chair or a designee provided at least five minutes for a presentation. Staff said presentations would be staggered across council meetings to allow focused attention.

Rodriguez provided a staggered schedule in the staff report: January — Public Arts Commission; February — Environmental and Historical Preservation Commission; March — Library Commission; April — Parks, Community Services and Trails Commission; May — Senior Citizens Commission; June — Traffic Safety Commission; September — Utilities Commission. The Emerging Leaders group was not part of the original ordinance and therefore not included.

Council clarified that the ordinance provides a minimum of five minutes for each commission presentation but that the presiding officer may allocate additional time. Public commenters, including Riley Peake and Justin Jackson, expressed support for giving commissions an opportunity to present their work to the public. The council approved the ordinance amendment by voice vote, 4-0.

Council members said the change will increase transparency and allow residents to hear commission work and ask questions.