Council reorganizes commissions and sets meeting schedule; PCAC to meet monthly

The Salinas City Council on May 6 approved a package of changes to how the city lists and manages its commissions, committees and boards, adopted a regular meeting calendar for oversight committees and directed several operational changes for board appointments.

Ordinance and code consolidation: City attorneys presented an ordinance consolidating references to the city’s boards, commissions and committees into a single article of the municipal code so the public and staff can find composition and duties in one place. The ordinance also removes the requirement that an appointee must be a registered voter in the city; staff said the change expands the applicant pool for hard‑to‑fill posts and matches recent trends in other jurisdictions.

Meeting schedules and bylaws: Council adopted a resolution setting quarterly meeting months for the Measure E and Measure G oversight committees and adopting uniform bylaws for advisory bodies; the resolution also established a schedule (July, October, January and April) and permitted department heads to call additional meetings as needed. For the Police Community Advisory Committee (PCAC) the council directed monthly meetings to support regular dialogue between the community and law enforcement; the PCAC will also use the city’s uniform bylaws rather than its older stand‑alone rules.

Rodeo oversight and related questions: Council discussed the Rodeo Oversight Committee (the Salinas Sports Complex lease oversight) at length. Public commenters urged keeping the oversight committee in place to maintain transparency and ensure fair community access to the public facility. Council chose not to remove the Rodeo Oversight Committee and approved a set of appointments for council representation on the oversight subcommittee. Staff reminded council the lease gives the city access to certain records and that the city manager can work with the rodeo association on any contractual concerns.

Appointments and mayoral appointment authority: The council also approved language restoring the mayor’s annual appointment authority for commissions; staff will publish appointment lists consistent with the municipal code and council direction. The council gave staff direction to improve appointment outreach and to return with a binder and contacts for boards and committees so councilmembers and the public can understand roles, meeting schedules and staff leads.

Ending: The council approved the ordinance consolidating boards and committees in the code, set meeting calendars for oversight committees, adopted uniform bylaws for the PCAC, and instructed staff to prepare a follow‑up binder and to return with guidance on fee studies, outreach and any necessary lease compliance tasks.