Assembly vice chair previews AO 2025-77 to advance sunsets; urban design commission targeted for rework

The Assembly Rules Committee on Sept. 11 reviewed a working reference of municipal boards and commissions and discussed AO 2025-77, an ordinance that would move the regular sunset review date forward for boards in the current cycle. Vice Chair Anna Brawley presented the resource document and said the draft is a reference snapshot intended to show which boards are charter-required, adjudicatory, or advisory.

Brawley said the ordinance itself does not change boards’ powers but advances the date of scheduled sunset reviews for boards that are in this cycle. She also previewed an intended amendment to address the Urban Design Commission, saying she aims to give staff time to reassign the commission’s functions where appropriate rather than simply eliminating them immediately.

Committee members and an audit-perspective speaker discussed the cost and workload of regular sunset-triggered audits. An audit representative said many sunset-triggered internal audits are “pretty vanilla” and often do not provide decisive information about a commission’s value beyond checking whether required meetings and procedures occurred. The auditor described one strategy to reduce audit workload: removing sunset provisions for boards the assembly intends to retain permanently, which would eliminate the recurring audit trigger.

Members raised the Housing, Homeless and Neighborhood Development (HAND) Commission as an example of a board with statutorily important duties tied to federal funding processes. One member noted that federal consolidated planning and HUD funding review functions require a designated body to review plans; the HAND commission performs that role today. “That commission actually has a critical function that’s well beyond that normal commission,” a member said, linking it to HUD’s consolidated-plan review process.

Brawley and staff said they are coordinating with mayoral staff who manage many boards and that some sunset provisions could be removed by amendment when the ordinance returns on Oct. 7. The committee discussed options for trimming commission duties, merging redundant boards, or retaining boards without sunset review to reduce audit burden, while recognizing some boards must remain because of legal or programmatic requirements.

No vote was taken; the ordinance will return to the committee on Oct. 7 with possible amendments, including Brawley’s plan for the Urban Design Commission.